


Negirau Atashinchi

by Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)



Series: NaNoWriMo [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Angst, Awkward Crush, Bad Parent Kurosaki Isshin, Bigotry & Prejudice, Bullying, F/M, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Former Taicho Isshin, Former Tenth Division Isshin, Four Shiba Siblings, Gen, Growing Up, Mentor/Protégé, Middle School, Momo is Biased, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo 2010, Not Really Character Death, Revenge, Romance, Shinigami Kurosaki Karin, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-11-01
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 44,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25010218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari
Summary: Karin becomes frustrated with family along with her school life once she enters junior high. Can a particular friend teach her not to be angry and how important family is, despite how crazy they drive you?
Relationships: Hinamori Momo & Hitsugaya Toushirou, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Kurosaki Ichigo, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Kurosaki Isshin, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Matsumoto Rangiku, Hitsugaya Toushirou & Yamada Hanatarou, Hitsugaya Toushirou/Kurosaki Karin, Kurosaki Isshin & Kurosaki Karin
Series: NaNoWriMo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810801
Kudos: 12
Collections: A Whisper to the  Dark Side, Bleach: Four Shiba, Bleach: Tenth Division Captain Isshin, Platonic Relationships





	1. Life Stinks

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Bleach. The story contains spoilers for 425, but is based off the theory that the person Ichigo met is an older version of Seinosuke rather than Kugo. This was also written for NaNoWriMo 2010 as a secondary project.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karin's first day of middle school roles around and Isshin insists on being Isshin - completely uncool.

The first day of junior high caused excitement for most students. When Kurosaki Karin woke up that morning she seriously couldn't place the dreaded feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was wrong. Then again, she saw spirits every single day and that in itself was unsettling. If her brother still had been able to see them it might not have been so rough.

She sat at the breakfast table minding her own business. At least as well as she could with two ghosts hanging onto her shoulders, a brother who liked to bait her twin sister and a father whose taste in fashion equated to that of a clown. She was glad to find that she was leaving for class soon despite the fact that the obnoxious Kurosaki Isshin followed his two daughters the whole way.

When they arrived, they found folding chairs with every students name on the chair, girls on one side, boys on another. Most of the students didn't have the chance of sitting next to a friend; however she and Yuzu were lucky as they shared the last name. In another regard, they weren't so lucky as they had an embarrassing spectator following them.

And it wasn't a ghost, but a man with a goatee bawling his eyes out in a rather anti masculine fashion as his two girls walked to their seats. Karin sat down in her chair as Yuzu sat down to her right. Glancing back she could see her father in his weird tie, bawling his head off and getting other parents to stare at him. Thankfully there was hopefully no one that could equate him as being related to them.

She turned around, meaning to ignore the man, only to hear him yelling over the crowd as a few girls sat down around them. "Karin-chan! Yuzu-chan! Make the Kurosaki family proud!" His beaming face and over ecstatic mode caused a bunch of giggles to occur. As more gathered his incessant yelling got worse rather then stopping. She closed her eyes wanting it all to go away.

"It isn't fair Yuzu. Dad didn't do this on Ichigo's entrance ceremonies. Hell, he didn't even bother to show up, the bastard," Karin stated firmly.

"No... he didn't bother to show up," her sister muttered, causing Karin to suddenly turn her head to see her sister with her cheeks puffed out. "Ichi-nii is so mean! I saved off showing him my uniform and he doesn't notice. And then when he does notice he's a pervert about it!"

"You mean the whole fastener part of it?" the dark haired female sighed.

"I can't believe that he looked to see if my zipper was pulled up," the girl stated, her cheeks flustered.

"Yuzu... our clothes consist of a skirt and a blouse that gets pulled over our heads. We may tie the sailor knot on our uniform, but it has no fasteners of what you speak," Karin shook her head.

"I think our uniforms are absolutely adorable," one of the girls in front of them suddenly turned around to greet the two girls.

A girl next to her quickly admonished. "It's all right to talk to Kurosaki Yuzu, but don't talk to her sister. She's not nice."

"That's mean to say!" Yuzu stated. She then blinked a couple of times. "Karin... if Ichi-nii... what did he mean by that comment he made then?"

"He was trying to pull your goat and get you to react Yuzu," Karin let out a sigh.

"Hey... Yuzu..." the girl who had made the rude comment about Karin suddenly spoke up. "Is that your dad?"

"Which one?" Yuzu stated, glancing around. Isshin acted suddenly like he overheard her conversation and broke down and fell to the ground. "Don't care..."

"You're still miffed because Ichi-nii didn't notice your uniform aren't you?" the darker twin let out a sigh.

"Well, yeah. I waited, and I waited for him to notice," Yuzu stated.

"Ich-nii went to this school so he knows what the uniforms look like," Karin reprimanded.

"Plus, he's rather oblivious."

"You guys have an older brother?" the first girl spoke up.

"Kurosaki Ichigo... he's a senior this year in high school, right Yuzu?" the second girl asked, causing Yuzu to nod her head rapidly.

"If he doesn't notice girls, is he gay?" the first suddenly asked suddenly, which caused Yuzu's face to pale.

"He's still bummed because he can't see the girl he likes and he hasn't been able to admit that he likes her," Karin stated firmly.

"Ichi-nii likes a girl!" Yuzu suddenly had a rather teary eyed expression similar to her fathers.

"Yuzu! You remember Rukia nee-chan?" Karin stated firmly.

"I liked her! I wonder what happened to her. I wanted her to be our real sister," the girl spoke up.

"Well, if she _married_ Ichi-nii, she _would_ be our real sister," the girl stated.

"Oh." Yuzu shut her mouth. "I don't get it."

"That's why everyone likes you, Yuzu-chan!" the second girl responded, then turned to the first girl. "Her brother is like that. Which makes you wonder how Karin ever was related to them."

"She's my twin," Karin's sister stated coming to her own defense, not really fully realizing what was going on.

"She doesn't look it. I thought twins were supposed to be identical," the second girl stated, a smirk on her face.

"Yeah... I thought so too," the first girl stated, instantly agreeing.

"Shows what you both know," Karin muttered, suddenly wincing as her father went into a nice tirade about everything. She would be quite glad when he headed home for the clinic.

**~o0o~**

Other then the fact that her father was making a ruckus the opening ceremony went rather well. She and Yuzu headed off to their classes quickly escaping their father who happened to have had another mental collapse when Yuzu showed yet another miffed tantrum for the way that Ichi-nii had treated her that morning.

Thankfully they shared the same classroom and they found a seat near each other, not to mention also near the window. The fair haired Kurosaki twin still had a rather sour look on her face. "What is it now?"

"Ichi-nii should have come to our entrance ceremony?"

"Why?" Karin gave her sister a rather ambivalent look.

"Because! Ichi-nii's our big brother. Isn't that a good enough reason Karin-chan?" Yuzu stated, frustration still written all over her face.

"Ichi-nii's got school too," the dark haired twin sighed.

"So?"

"So? You do know that his grades have dropped since he entered high school. He needs to focus and set a good example on his first day of school," Karin stated firmly.

"Well, if he said he went to his little sisters' opening ceremony, wouldn't the teacher be a little more lenient on him and understand that he helps take care of his family," Yuzu sighed. "I wanted Ichi-nii to come.

"Would you also have liked him and dad to have gotten into a huge fight and caused us an even bigger embarrassment then we've already had?" the second twin shook her head.

"What do you mean?" Two brown eyes blinked a couple of times in confusion.

"You didn't _see_ what dad was doing?" Karin shook her head in irritation. "Come on Yuzu..."

"Yeah. Everyone in the freshman class saw your guys father bawling his head off," the second girl stated, setting down her stuff. Karin grimaced at having her in the class, whatever her name was.

"Knock it off. Their dad has to take on the role of mom and dad," a voice stated as a red haired youth stepped into the room.

Yuzu suddenly brightened up. "Jinta-kun! Don't you think that Ichi-nii should have come?"

Karin found humor in the fact that Jinta's face twisted up in frustration at the fact that her twin still didn't notice his crush on her. After pausing for a few seconds, he then spoke up. "Yeah. He should have come." He noticed the glare that Karin's dark eyes gave him and backed down.

"Hey... Karin-chan... where are the guys you usually play soccer with?" Yuzu asked.

"I don't know." Karin tapped on her desk. "I didn't even to think to check whose in the same class as us."

"Possibly because you didn't want any of us who've been in class with you during elementary school to blab all your family secrets," the second girl blurted out.

"Like what?" one girl, not the first one they had met spoke up.

"Doesn't matter. The only reason that ugly faced Kurosaki happens to look like a girl is because she's forced to wear the uniform," the second girl stated. "I highly doubt she could ever get a boyfriend."

"Not interested," Karin stated, narrowing her eyes. "Most guys are idiots. Gawking after a guy just because of their looks, or guys liking you just because of looks is stupid."

The other girl's face twisted up in anger only for the teacher to come in to take attendance.

**~o0o~**

During class Karin could see a few of the girls gossiping off and on, particularly during lunch time when everyone could pull their desks together and choose to be in the class or not. Yuzu went to talk to her friends while Jinta and Karin both simply kept to themselves. It felt like this was the best thing to do.

When class was over, she went to her shoe locker to get out here shoes. As she did so, she found that a note had been placed with her shoes. She carefully unfolded the paper as her sister tried to peek over her shoulder. "What is it Karin?"

"Hold on," the small female stated, her eyes carefully reading the letter. She then crumpled it up. "You know what Yuzu, don't worry about it. I need to see if I can't find my friends. Why don't you head on home. You've got to fix dinner, right?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you at home then," the small female beamed, quickly hurrying off.

After a few minutes, the second girl from the morning walked up to her from behind. "You're still here?"

"I don't know if it was you who stuck that letter into my locker or not, but you should know that I'm not someone you want to mess with," Karin stated, turning to face the girl.

"What, you going to beat me up like you did the boys back in elementary school?" the girl laughed. "That looks nice, doesn't it?" Her two friends let out giggles.

"What is it that you want? I don't see why you'd want to even bother with me. Am I really that much worth your time that you would stoop to insults?" Kurosaki-san pushed back a bit of her brown hair.

"Come on, you've got to be as gay as that stupid father as yours," the girl stated firmly. "I get that Yuzu's nice enough to over look something like that... naive enough, but you're not."

"I still don't see the point," Karin stated.

"You don't belong. Go home to that crazy dad of yours," the girl stated, sticking out her tongue.


	2. Hating Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isshin's behavior leads to Karin standing out at school and her day slowly getting worse over the day.

"You don't belong. Go home to that crazy dad of yours," the girl stated, sticking out her tongue at Karin.

The dark haired Kurosaki Twin simply turned back around and slipped on her shoes as she tried to ignore what the girls had said to her. This was particularly true about the comment about her being gay. Truth of the matter was she had never really cared about her looks. For some reason she didn't understand the comments the girls made hurt.

"Are you going to just ignore us?" the leader of the girls stated firmly.

"I don't see the point of wasting my time with people who like to cut people down," the tomboyish female stated firmly.

"That's because you can't come up with a comeback," the girl sniped back trying to goad Karin into doing something.

"Why should someone come up with a comeback to something that is a load of nonsense in the first place," the female stated. "I'll likely see you in class tomorrow. Have a good day."

She then swung her bag over her shoulder, choosing to leave it at that. Perhaps if it had been a guy mouthing off to her she would have used some physical force on them to knock some sense into them. The only girl she really understood at all happened to be Yuzu and in truth she really didn't understand her that well either.

She headed over to the classroom chart only to chance bumping into one of her friends. "Toba... are you going to head home to change out of your uniform so we can play soccer?"

Ryohei paused for a few seconds, blinking. "Why not just play in our uniforms? It shouldn't matter if we mess them up, right?"

"Even my brother isn't dumb enough to mess up his uniform for school," Karin sighed. "Plus, I think you forgot that I don't _wear_ the same uniform as you."

At that, the boy opened his mouth to say something, his eyes suddenly drifting down to Karin's chest. "I seriously forgot you were a girl."

"Let me guess... because I don't dress all fru-fru like Yuzu does?" came her irritated reply.

"Because you were always rather flat chested. Now I can see that you have..." Ryohei found his words quickly interrupted.

"Don't say that in polite company," Karin stated firmly.

"Look, just because you want to pretend that you aren't a girl, doesn't mean that you still can." His eyes moved from taking into her chest to taking in her legs. They then snapped back up to her chest area.

"Oi!" A clenched fist caused him to jerk his head up to her face.

"What..." came his dull response.

"Don't you _dare_ stare at my chest," Karin snapped. "Are we going to play soccer or not?"

"Well, I guess us guys are going to get together," Ryohei stated, suddenly scratching his head, his eyes drifting to her chest again, but then darting away.

"And..." Kurosaki's tone made it clear he needed to get to the point.

"Look. I am not exactly comfortable. I mean, you're a girl. Seeing you in a girl's school uniform is weird." The boy glanced at the ground.

"I get it. I'm a girl. I'm not a part of the group anymore," Karin sighed walking towards the door.

"Could we borrow a soccer ball... we don't have one..." came his question.

Karin suddenly glared over her shoulder. "Why? Why not find someone for your new fifth who happens to also have a soccer ball."

"Do you know if Hitsugaya has a soccer ball?" Ryohei stated. "I've been looking for him. I mean, I figured that he would be going to our school this year but I can't find him. Do you know where he is?"

"I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him in over half a year." Karin turned to face Toba. "But you know what? I don't think Toshiro would care who he played soccer with."

At that, she spun on her heals, just in time for Ryohei's mouth to drop in protest as he held out his hand, obviously not sure how best to apologize.

**~o0o~**

The front door of the Kurosaki household slammed shut as Karin walked into the house. Yuzu, who was busy cooking dinner popped her head out of the kitchen. "Karin-chan, slamming the door is bad etiquette."

"Karin-chan! How was your first day of school!" came the overly excited response from her father.

His tomboyish daughter suddenly launched a hard round house kick into his stomach. "I'm not in the mood goat-beard."

"Karin-chan..." Isshin bawled, collapsing to the ground. "Why?"

"Why did you have to go and be an embarrassment at school today during our open ceremony! That only happens once in a life time! Are you that moronic that you have to turn into an absolute baby at the smallest thing! I hate having to live with you!" Karin stated firmly. "You and Ichi-nii!"

"Yeah! Ichi-nii didn't notice our school uniforms or come to our opening ceremony! That was cruel!" Yuzu stated firmly.

"That isn't it," Karin stated firmly. She then stormed up the stairs kicking off her shoes and heading up to her room. As she entered the hallway, she couldn't help but notice that her brother's room was open. "Ichi-nii?"

"Ahh... hi Karin," her brother stated, leaning back in his chair staring at the ceiling. "I was trying to get ahead of studying this year."

"Sure you are," the black haired girl sighed. "Ichi-nii? What happened to you being a shinigami?"

Her brother's head shot up hard and then stared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do!" Karin crossed her arms, her voice becoming heavy. "First dad makes an utter fool of himself at our school. Now you happen to deny what I know."

"Should it really be a surprise you that dad would embarrass you in front of everyone?" her brother stated firmly.

"Why are you avoiding the subject!" Karin snapped back. "I'm tired of you avoiding the questions I ask!"

"You haven't asked any questions since I stopped being able to see spirits so I thought you were doing fine on your own," Ichigo stated firmly.

"Ichi-nii," The preteen's voice strained. "I thought... I thought it was just something you didn't talk about. Why couldn't you have said something? Why is it I am the only one in the family now stuck with this lousy power!"

Ichigo titled his head towards her. "Because... what happened isn't something you need to hear about. Not until you're older."

"And who are you to decide that!" Karin blurted out. "Seriously! You could have at _least_ told me about not being able to see spirits anymore."

"It isn't as if I'm the only one hiding things," her brother stated firmly.

At that, Karin balked. Her face suddenly paled"You think _I'm_ hiding something?"

"No. It's actually someone else," Ichigo sighed.

"Rukia nee-chan?" Karin blinked a couple of times. "She isn't coming back, is she? What did you do to make her hate you?"

"Karin... stop jumping to conclusions," her brother snapped. "It isn't her, and some secrets are best... just kept that way."

Karin found herself storming down the stairs, irritation written all over her face. She found the energy to elbow her father in the chin as he tried to hug her only to slip on her shoes to head out the door. Temperament wise she knew she had to cool down. She hurried off not really caring where she was going but keeping an eye out for traffic as she crossed the street.

She found herself at the place that Toshiro found to watch the sunsets. She went and sat on the railing, glancing down at the view below. "My chest isn't even _that noticeable._ Only a pervert like Toba would notice something that small."

" _Well, if you became a shinigami, the clothing would make it so nobody would notice_ ," said a voice in her head. It was rather familiar, and simply seemed to become more clear over the last year or so. To her, it was normal.

"Yeah, well, those girls at school think I don't have an interest in guys. I _clearly_ said that I find most guys to be stupid morons," Karin sighed.

" _But not Toshiro_ ," the voice stated firmly.

"Toshiro would be the kind of guy any girl would want to date. I'm not ready to date though. Plus, he's still in Soul Society," Karin waited for the voice to respond. However, when none came, she let out a loud yell. "Why is it that Ichi-nii couldn't come and talk to me!"

" _Because he was trying to protect you_ ," the voice called out. Under most circumstances it would have been calming, but Karin's frustrations were finally boiling over.

"And what is up with dad!" Karin snapped out. "I hate him! I seriously hate him!" She found no response to her tirade. "What am I going to do? My levels are near where Ichi-nii's were when he started high school. I thought it would take longer to get there, but it isn't. I can't talk to him about this."

" _You could try Urahara_ ," the voice stated softly.

"No... he's an old coot. Jinta would laugh at me, and I wouldn't get a straight answer out of him. Actually... the only one I think I would get a straight answer out of would be Toshiro. But..." Karin closed her eyes tightly. " _He's not ever going to show up. Ichi-nii's basically guaranteed only that one stupid shinigami is here._ "

"So... you're looking for answers?" a man asked.

Karin's eyes snapped open to see a badge with a skull in front of her eyes. She opened her mouth, not sure what to say, but then said what was the most logical thing. "Who are you?"

"My name is Yamada Seinosuke," the man stated, not yet within her peripheral vision.


	3. Substitute Badge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yamada Seinosuke offers up his own thoughts regarding Karin's situation.

"So... you're looking for answers?" came a male voice from behind her, despite the fact that the railing and slope of the hill prevented her from actually likely having someone behind her. At least, not a normal person.

"Who are you?" Was the best question that Karin could ask. She didn't dare to look behind her, but she could tell that the man was dangling something in front of her eyes. Something was familiar about the skull on the badge.

"My name is Yamada Seinosuke," the man stated, suddenly hopping over the railing, appearing into her peripheral vision. "So. Let me ask you, what is the first thing that you want to know?"

Karin backed away slightly, still in her school uniform. "Look... I just want..."

"Do you even know what you want?" the rather young looking man glanced at the sky. "Did you know that your brother is saving up money so that he can move out of the house and live on his own?"

"What? No... Ichi-nii wouldn't do that!" Karin shook her head firmly.

"No?" the man stated. "All right. If you want to believe him..." He paused for a few seconds. "But then, this has nothing to do with believing him or not, does it? It has to deal with what he chooses to tell you and what he doesn't. He seems to have a bad habit of not telling you things, doesn't he?"

"That is true." The dark haired preteen glanced at the ground. "So... there is a chance that he didn't have the guts to tell Yuzu and me that he was abandoning us."

"So. Where shall I being?" the man leaned forward, close enough to cause Karin to blush slightly.

"Look, I don't know what your intentions are, but I think I want to know what they are," the girl stated firmly.

"A dept between your father and me needs to be repaid," Seinosuke spoke up. "It has been long over due. Is that good enough for you?"

"I guess that it is," Karin sighed. "All right. My first question is, where is Toshiro?"

"Toshiro?" the man paused for a few seconds.

"He's a shinigami captain," the girl let out a deep breath.

"Ahh! Well, now that I know that bit of info, I can tell you that he is in Soul Society," Yamada watched as her eyes showed confusion. "Yes, well, that is where souls that aren't living gather until they are reincarnated to this life."

'Wait? You're telling me that Toshiro is dead?" Karin felt the heat leaving her cheeks. "I thought that he was the same age as me."

"Well, people age differently in Soul Society. It's likely you'll eventually leave him behind growth wise," Seinosuke let out a serious laugh.

"How is it that my brother became a shingami?" the small girl stated, suddenly forgetting that she was talking to a complete stranger.

"I don't know the details. I do know though, the reason that he can't see spirits anymore, is because he sacrificed his shingami powers to save everyone. Or so some people say," the man maneuvered the badge around. "I wonder... what would your brother have needed this for?"

"That's right! Ichi-nii... I saw him use that to exit his body, and then he turned into a Shingami," Karin blurted out. "I knew I recognized it somewhere."

"He doesn't need it anymore, obviously. Do you want it?" the man asked, a grin on his face. "Might as well put it to good use, right?"

"I don't know. What are you talking about," the small female asked. However, to her utter surprise, the man pressed the badge to her chest, forcing her to pop out. Her body fell into the man's arms. "Hey!"

"Hey what? Look at yourself? You're telling me you never noticed? Normally, you go to a school, but your family seems to have an oddity of not having to go to Soul Reaper academy," the man stated.

At that, Karin spun around, looking at the shingami robes that now adorned her. She narrowed her eyes at the man. "What is this about?"

"Didn't you always want to be like your brother?" the man asked. "Now, you know how it feels. You even have a blade on your back."

"It's heavy! How can someone wield something this big?" the small girl glanced at the huge blade.

"Good question Apparently your brother did," the man stated. "Do you want to test your abilities?"

"My abilities?" Karin blinked a couple of times. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Ahh, look... there seems to be a rip in the sky," the man smirked, a hand shading his eyes. "Something else your brother never really explained. Did you know that the person who is hiding something from you other then your brother, is your own father?"

At that, the small girl spun around, a frightened look on her eyes. Sure enough, a Hollow was appearing out of nowhere. She turned her head. "What do you think..." However, she found him to be gone, her body sitting on the ground, the soul reaper badge placed into her hand.

"I smell a good soul to eat," the Hollow roared. Karin found her feet freezing into place.

" _Where is Toshiro when you need him..._ " A hand came crashing down towards her. " _No... I need to prove that I can do things just as well as an adult, especially ones who pretend that they are little kids simply because they are midgets._ "

At that thought, she dodged to the side, only to have a bunch of rubble fly up at her. Her hand reached for her blade and swung it at the hollow that was in front of her. However, she found that it only dented the mask. She quickly dropped the blade and glanced around for something, anything that might be able to kick. Her eyes caught sight of the object that had taken her out of her body.

She grabbed it from her still hand, then turned around and kicked it hard, right into the Hollow's mask. It ended up cracking and the Hollow ended up disappearing from her sight view. To her complete surprise, she found someone right behind her, grabbing her arm hard. "What do you think you're doing?"

Karin's eyes turned to the dark haired youth with eye glasses. "You can see me?"

"Of course I can see you," the large high schooler stated firmly, pushing up his glasses. "I am a Quincy. Every shingami should know that we are rivals and I would think that they would forewarn any new comer coming to this area about the fact that I am having to do the job of the stupid representative."

"You mean the shingami with an afro head?" came her question, his arm holding on tightly.

"Him. Yes. Though you don't seem that bright, leaving your gigai over there," the boy stated firmly. "That's just like Kurosaki used to do."

"Ichi-nii?" Karin's face turned rather innocent. "You know my older brother?"

The older boy's face suddenly softened. "You aren't a shingami, a real shingami, are you?" At that, she shook her head no and found herself being shoved back into her body. "How stupid are you?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" the girl stated.

"Fighting Hollows is dangerous, and your just a kid. Actually, that should have told me you weren't a shingami," Uryu muttered with irritation.

"Look, it isn't as if I _choose_ to pop out of my body," Karin snapped. "I get the fact that all shingami are adults. Even Toshiro is..."

"Hitsugaya Taicho?" The Quincy blinked a couple of times as Karin went and picked up the object she had kicked. It was a little scratched, but she managed to tuck it into her sleeves. "I wouldn't exactly say that about him. What was it that you kicked at the Hollow?"

"A rock," came her response.

"You should head home. I bet Kurosaki is worried about you," the high schooler stated.

"I bet he isn't," the girl stated. "Dad neither. Bet the only one is Yuzu."

"I don't need to babysit you for Kurosaki," Uryu muttered. At that, Karin paused short, then launched a flying kick at his head, only to have her leg grabbed. "I am a lot stronger then you are." He let go of her leg, then completely disappeared. She simply took out the badge and glanced at it.

**~o0o~**

The computers of the twelfth division flashed. They had been keyed to keeping track of Karakura Town, in case something big happened. This made perfect sense as the town was an epicenter for spiritual. A rather young shingami blinked. "Hey! There are traces of a shingami using spiritual pressure."

"Was it Kurosaki?" came a voice from behind him, causing Rin to spin around.

"Ahh... Hitsugaya Taicho... I didn't realize you were visiting our division," the small taicho stated. "I just know it isn't Zennosuke-san."

"Zennosuke is a pain, truth be told," Akon spoke up, watching the small white haired taicho. "You know that Kurotsuchi Taicho doesn't like you lurking around here."

"Who cares It isn't as if I am touching anything," Hitsugaya muttered. "I just want to know if the Substitute Shingami ever regains his powers."

"Well... it was there, and then it was gone," the spiked headed man stated, pulling closer to his computer.

"I guess then, it wouldn't be a bad idea to form a group to go and investigate the matter. I'll ask Yamamoto Taicho for permission," Toshiro stated, beginning to walk away.

The green colored man spoke up. "Kurotsuchi isn't going to like the fact that Hitsugaya Taicho is making decisions on information our division brought in."

Akon blinked a couple of times. "Well, it isn't as if any of our division would be going to investigate, so I think it is beside the point Hiyosu."


	4. Building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The alert regarding Karin leaving her body brings definite attention from Soul Society.

Yamamoto sat at his desk when the small taicho came into the room. Glancing up, he raised his eyebrows up. "You seem to have a fire to your step."

"I don't know how that could be, when my zampaktuo is an ice one," Hitsugaya stated.

"Normally I would find time to chuckle at what you just said, but I think that you also happen to have come here because of more serious business," the old man stated.

"I was over visiting the twelfth division, when an alarm went off in Karakura Town," Toshiro stated firmly.

"I happen to have told you that your visiting the division daily is not behavior I condone," the first division taicho stated firmly. "I've had complaints from Kurotsuchi Taicho about this."

"I don't touch anything. I just simply ask. You did place Karakura Town under my watch," the boy stated.

"And I think that you are taking your job to seriously, almost as if you are trying to escape the pain of the war that you have felt," the man stated. "I suppose this is beside the point at this time. What was the news that's come through."

"That a shingami was using their powers," the small taicho stated firmly. "It wasn't the one that we have stationed there."

"You think that it is Kurosaki then?" the man stated.

"I can't think of who else it could be," Toshiro stated firmly. "I rather think that if it is someone else, a potential enemy, it needs to be investigated, to assert the threat."

"There is another issue that I wish for you to take care of," Yamamoto stated firmly.

"And what that would be?" Hitsugaya asked.

"When Kurosaki's powers finally left, nobody happened to pick up the Substitute Shingami badge that he was given," the man stated firmly. "It should have been taken from him so that he need not be reminded of the things that happened."

"So, he should just forget about all of us," came the reply. The young man's face twisted up, a little bit of hurt coming through.

"I am not saying that he should forget about what happened," the old man stated firmly. "I suggested that he forget about the duties he no longer has. How would you feel, if your powers were stripped of you, and you couldn't see your enemy coming, or be able to protect the ones you care about?"

"Understood," Hitsugaya sighed. "I have to say, it feels like that is saying that he won't be coming back."

"Be that as it may, it is very unlikely that he'll be helping us in any future battles," Yamamoto sighed.

It was then that the taicho of the twelfth division popped into the room. "I have a complaint to launch, and I am glad to see that I can launch the complaint while the said person I am launching it against is here."

"You mean the fact that I've been lurking around your division, asking for information about Karakura Town?" Toshiro scratched his head. "Seriously... you are weird."

"See... he admits it." Mayuri suddenly paused. "Wait... what do you mean by weird?"

"Your the only division that _doesn_ 't like to share information with other divisions unless someone comes looking," the preteen stated firmly.

"Paperwork! Proper paperwork!" the man stated. "You can also wait until I let you know that the information is and whether it is important or not!"

"And something might get over looked. Plus, it is information that came in just that day," Toshiro stated.

"And which I didn't get a chance to process," the other taicho snapped.

"Well, Hitsugaya Taicho is taking a group to the living world to look into this matter, so he won't be bothering you for a bit of time," Yamamoto stated firmly. "Both of you are dismissed."

As Toshiro left, he could hear the mad scientist speaking. "That's good. Wait! That isn't what I wanted!"

**M**

The sun was setting over the horizon. Yuzu called out that dinner was ready, which caused Ichigo to go and head on down stairs, frustrated that nothing really got done on his school work. He took a seat, then glanced at the place that Karin normally sat. "All right... where is she?"

"I don't know. She seemed pretty mad," Isshin stated, his face moping. He was about to say something else, but then the door slammed open.

Karin came in and went and slunk into her chair, still in her school uniform. Her brother spoke up. "Where were you?"

"I was out taking care of..." The small female blinked a couple of times. "None of your business."

"Karin, that is no way to talk to our brother," Yuzu admonished.

"You weren't exactly talking nice about him this morning," the dark haired preteen spoke up. "Ichigo isn't the father in this family, so it isn't his business. _Dad_ should have said something, not him. _"_

Isshin's chin was at the table, and he was still moping about the whole thing. Ichigo glanced over. "I don't think he's noticed that you are home."

"That's just it. Nobody in this family notices anything," Karin snapped.

"That isn't fair," Yuzu complained. "I can't _see_ spirits at all."

"Well, what Ichi-nii _hasn't_ told anyone is that he can't either anymore," the dark haired twin snapped. "He kept that from us, not even bothering to care how we would feel. How I would feel being the only freak in the family."

"There's dad," Ichigo piped up.

"Yeah..." Karin's voice lowered. "He's a different kind of freak. He at least can _control_ his freakishness. Not the same, Ichi-nii, and you know that. This whole family is about keeping secrets from each other."

"Like what?" her brother stated firmly.

"Someone told me that you are saving up money so that you can move out of the house and get away from us," the small girl snapped.

"Ichi-nii... is this true?" Yuzu's normal smile turned.

"Well... I'll be an adult by that time." The teenager scratched his head.

"Dad can't take care of us. He can't take care of himself," Karin snapped.

"Karin... it's not your brother's fault," Isshin suddenly sat up, his face more serious then it normally was. "As you said, I am not the best parent."

"Yeah... I wonder what secrets you're hiding," the girl stated, suddenly getting up from the table. "I'm not hungry, so I'm just going to go to bed."


	5. Revisiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karin's life isn't the only one which has changed.

Urahara stood in his shop fanning himself. Boredom set in after the war, causing him to become moody, which in turned caused Yoruichi to need to come and go, not necessarily though to Soul Society, as the goal incurred not being driven insane by the candy striped man's own moods. Truth of the matter, without Kurosaki Ichigo having shingami powers, nothing exciting happened.

He heard the sound of a gate between the worlds opening, and he called for Jinta, who had gotten back from school to take over the counter. He headed to the back room, just in time to see Hitsugaya Toshiro stepping out with Hinamori, Matsumoto and the female Kuchiki. Urahara raised an eyebrow. "What do I owe this honor for?"

"Twelfth division's computers took notice of a shingami reiatsu going off yesterday," Toshiro stated, his face twisted up in a rather stern look on his face.

"Don't you look cute," the man stated, not at all pleased with not seeing a smile on the small taicho's face. "Grumpy as ever I see."

"I am not here for pleasantries Urahara," the preteen shingami sighed. "Have you heard at all from Kurosaki?"

"Have I heard?" the man shook his head. "What I've heard is about his siblings, and that is from my two young employees."

"They aren't of concern this mission," Toshiro stated firmly.

"Are they not?" Urahara snapped his fan shut. "So, what is your plan?"

"Hinamori and Matsumoto are going to stay here, while Kuchiki and I head over to Kurosaki's place," the small taicho stated.

"You've had a growth spurt... well, a small one," the candy striped man spoke up.

"Again, we aren't here for pleasantries," the white haired youth snapped out.

"Anyways... what is the game plan when you get to Kurosaki's place," Urahara snapped his fan open and began to use it. "He won't be happy seeing Rukia-chan unless he is able to see her in shingami form."

"I know that," the small shingami let out a sigh. "That is why I'm going in shingami form."

"But if Kurosaki can't see anyone," the man continued.

"That is why I happen to be going in my gigai," Toshiro stated firmly. "This way I can ask Kurosaki if any of his friends have noticed something. Also... if he doesn't show any signs of power... well." There was a short pause. "The thing is, no one thought to retrieve his substitute shingami badge, and I've been tasked with that in case he happens to... not be regaining his abilities."

"You don't sound like you are happy about this," Urahara commented, despite the fact that the young boy's face remained emotionless.

Hinamori suddenly blinked a couple of times. "Why would Hitsugaya Taicho be unhappy with this? A mission is a mission isn't it?"

"I forgot that you were out of commotion during most of the build up to the Winter War," the man sighed. "Did you really have to bring the other two?"

"There is a chance that it is something else, and if so, we may need to take care of it," Hitsugaya commented. "I am hoping it is just Kurosaki."

**M**

Ichigo walked home from school, not at all pleased with having to beat up a whole group of thugs, simply because he had beaten one of them up. Well, he hadn't beaten the guy up, simply nailed him for stealing someone's backpack. It went without saying that the young man had been asking for it. Of course, he hadn't wanted the incident to effect what was now a normal life.

Uryu had for some reason taken it into his own initiative to scare the guys off. Of course, Kurosaki didn't like having him fight his battles for him. The men received a rather large pummeling, which caused him to draw attention of the teachers. They of course were not pleased with such a thing coming and tainting the reputation of their school.

Kojima came out to his defense though, explaining that the reason that the men had come to beat up Kurosaki, was the fact that Ichigo had indeed punched one of them in the face. However, there was also the fact that the man happened to have stolen someones bag, and Ichigo was working on getting it back.

However, Ichigo's actual strength came out, and the teachers stated firmly, it wasn't a good idea for him to be playing the sports for the school. It wasn't so much that he had an advantage over them. It was more along the lines that his strength ran the risk of hurting another student unintentionally. This meant he had nothing to do.

That also meant that he had to be around the house near his father. He happened to have a problem with being around the man, once he knew that he had been a shingami. The man happened to drive him insane before, but the fact that he wasn't at all truthfully with him, and the fact he knew Isshin could be serious irritated him.

Uryu wanted to talk to him about something, but he ended up brushing the whole thing off to get home. He opened the door and headed up the stairs, hearing Yuzu in the Kitchen. He heard a soft sobbing coming from the girl's room, and then opened the door, only to have the preteen yell at him to go away. "Great... I'm guessing she just hit puberty."

At that, he walked into his room, and then paused. Sitting on his bed was a familiar face, one of their legs crossed across his lap. "Toshiro?"

"That's Hitsugaya Taicho," the young shingami stated. "You don't have your powers back, do you?"

"You can tell I have no reiatsu , can't you," he sighed.

"There is another shingami in the room with me," the boy stated firmly..

"Who?" Ichigo asked.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Hitsugaya let out a sigh. "There is something I need to talk to you about."

"Like why you're curious about my powers coming back or not?" the young man sighed.

"Seriously... Soul Society business... you shouldn't worry about it," Toshiro glanced away. "There was an odd signal around here. A shingami."

"Wouldn't you have identified my reiatsu if my powers had come back," Ichigo sighed.

"I guess..." the small boy spoke up. "We wanted to know if you've heard of something."

"Nope. Sorry." The teenager stated firmly. "I'm glad I don't have to deal with any of that crap anymore. I finally get to live a normal life."

" _Really_? _"_ This comment from Toshiro caused Ichigo's head to suddenly shoot up. A rather hurt look twisted onto Toshiro's features. "There is one other thing I need to talk to you about."

"The Substitute Soul Reaper badge?" Ichigo pulled out his bag. "I'll get it for..."

"Something the matter Kurosaki?" the boy stated firmly.

"It's not here... I remember seeing it the other day..." Kurosaki blinked a couple of times. "I umm..."

"All right... what is it?" Toshiro snapped.

"I think I may have dropped it yesterday, or something, when that guy had his bag stolen," Ichigo stated.

"You are a fuckingidiot," Hitsugaya muttered.


	6. Bullied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuzu and Karin discuss problems and how Yuzu doesn't have any problems she has to hide from others, yet Karin has plenty.

Karin's mood bordered on the dark side of her norm. She woke up, her stomach grumbling from having not eaten the night before. Thankfully, Yuzu spooned extra rice into her bowl that morning, purposefully butting in all the burnt parts that her brother liked. That told her that Yuzu was still miffed at Ichigo.

She happened to eat her food with flourish due to her hunger, but also because she wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible. She got up and swung her bag over her shoulder. Yuzu glanced up. "You're leaving all ready?"

"If family doesn't want to deal with family, I don't want to deal with family," Karin stated, turning to leave. She paused though, and then turned her head back. "That doesn't count you Yuzu... just the moronic males that wouldn't get away with this if mom were still alive."

At that, she began to walk to school, her pace rather fast without Yuzu. Or at least she tried to, as she found her twin hurrying to keep up with her. "Wait for me!"

"Don't you need to eat too?" the black haired preteen asked.

Yuzu held out a bento. "You forgot this. I can wait until lunch."

"Why is it that you are always willing to be there, when Ichi-nii and dad aren't?" Karin asked.

"Because unlike everyone else, I don't have a problem that I feel I need to hide from people, or at least not yet," the small girl stated.

"Yeah... there is something that I'm not telling you, but I'll be upfront about the fact hat I don't want to worry you about it," the small dark haired female stated. "You know I can take care of myself."

Yuzu glanced at her smile, frowning. "Normally you can. But you don't normally deal with the girls our age."

"I'm not going to let what they say get to me," Karin gave her a weak smile. "Plus, I want to wait and see if it dies down."

"If it doesn't..." the small brown haired girl found herself interrupted.

"Don't worry, don't even think about it," the small girl stated firmly.

"Are you going to play soccer with they guys?" Yuzu asked.

"I'm a girl, so apparently, the answer is no," Karin sighed.

"So that was the other thing you were upset about," her small sister stated firmly. "Why don't you try out for the girl's soccer team?"

"I hadn't thought of that, as I was always practicing with the guys, so I might do that. It isn't as if they are going to let me try out for the guys," the small female stated.

"They should. I bet you can run circles around every single one of them," Yuzu let out a small laugh. "There is a sign up sheet for after school clubs."

"Which one are you going to sign up for?"

"I still can't decide between cooking, and handy-craft," the small girl stated, then getting big eyes.

"Let me think about that, and I'll get back to you on that one," Karin smiled.

**~o0o~**

During class, Karin felt like she had someone staring down her back during the whole class. She felt frustrated, not with the classwork which she was getting pretty much, but with the fact she could feel that one girl staring at her. She wondered what it was that attracted the female to her, then thought about what had happened the other day.

During lunch, she let Yuzu doing the talking, while Jinta looked on, his eyes filled with awe. She figured that the reason that Yuzu wasn't sitting with her friends today had to do with the fact that she was worried, which irritated Karin. She hated seeing Yuzu worried about things. However, she also didn't say anything, as her twin's feeling would likely become hurt.

After class was over, she told Yuzu to meet her at home as she had something to do, and to not worry about it. She approached the club sign up board for the soccer club and picked up the pencil and scribbled in the kanji for her name. She made to turn around, only to find herself face to face with the girl.

She simply stepped aside, and watched as the girl went up and scratched her name from the list, and then wrote hers on the line below. Karin then became livid. "What the hell is that for?"

"When we change into our soccer uniforms, we don't want some girl whose gay to be looking at us changing," the girl stated firmly.

At that, Karin felt heat rising in her cheeks. "That is a lie."

"From what I hear, it is true," the girl stated firmly.

Karin snapped back at her. "Like hell it is! I said that it isn't true!"

"That's only because you're denying it," the girl stated. "I heard you say the other day that you don't like guys."

"That wasn't what I said, and you know it," the Kurosaki female stated firmly.

"Then what _did_ you say?" the girl stated.

"That most guys were morons and that I wouldn't be stupid enough to date one just because they were hot," Karin snapped back.

"See... she said it herself," the girl stated, turning to the girls. "I crossed off her name, so she has to go join another club."

Karin felt her throat choking as she saw the girls suddenly step up and sign up for the club, signing their names. Instead of lashing out, she turned and headed towards the shoe locker, trying to bite back the hurt. She opened up her locker, just in time to see another note. She opened the letter up and blinked a couple of times, then tossed it into the waste basket.

She then removed her shoes, pausing as she caught eyes of the tacks that were placed within her shoes. "Seriously... because you can't throw punches, you use underhanded tactics? Why?"

She dumped her shoes out, and then put them on, stepping home. One of the guys whom she used to play soccer with tried to walk up to her, but she didn't notice him and continued walking away, in a hurry to get home. She could hear Yuzu in the kitchen cooking and humming a pleasant tune. Karin though choose to head up the stairs.

" _The only thing that made me stand out was dad acting like a moron yesterday. That was the only difference between now and when I was in school before_ ," Karin thought to herself.

" _You don't think it has to do with the fact that you are dressing in a skirt now, rather then more masculine clothing_? _"_ the voice stated.

" _Why though... I'm not interested in any of the guys they are interested in. I even said that. Well,maybe they are mad because I dissed liking guys for their looks, but if that's why, they're morons_ ," the girl opened the door to her room then closed it behind her. She went and flopped down on the bed, her head buried into the pillow.

"What now... the one club I would have wanted to be in, I can't be in, because they'll cross off my name every time," Karin stated. "The guys won't let me play soccer with them either. Life sucks." At that, she felt a few tears falling down her cheeks. If it was one of the guys who was bullying her, she would just punch them to get them to stop. Her frustration was in fact rising.

Downstairs, she heard the front door open and then heard her older brother's steps on the stairs. By that time, she was sobbing hard, trying to think about what she should do, trying to hold back on taking her anger out on her room as she also shared it with Yuzu. It wasn't as if she could go play soccer and get it out.

Her brother opened her door, and she snapped at him to leave her alone. She then heard him step into his room, and she rolled over on her chest. " _You didn't feel that feeling?_ "

" _What feeling?_ " Karin asked, tears still falling down her cheeks. However, she let her senses take in the search for a familiar feeling and felt a reiatsu that always had felt mirrored to her own brothers and also a familiar icy one. " _Rukia nee-chan? Toshiro..._ "

She wiped away her tears. "I guess I could talk to Rukia about this. But why are they here now... unless Ichi-nii's in trouble. I don't think I should get involved."

" _Toshiro's your friend though. Are you sure you don't want to see him?_ " the voice asked.

" _Toshiro? I thought that he was a kid my age, but apparently he's an adult. It's no wonder he didn't want to play with us. The reason he did was... because I got hurt_ ," Karin sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, sulking for a little bit. She heard the familiar voice suddenly yelling at her brother. " _It isn't any of my business._ "

She then got up and walked over to the desk opening up the drawer on top. Within the desk was the badge, simply sitting there, almost as if it were beckoning her. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do in her life. She scooped it into her hand. She heard a voice from the pile of stuffed animals. "Hey, that's Ichigo's."

At that, Karin turned, blinking a couple of times to see the stuffed lion speaking to her. Her jaw dropped despite the fact that she had come to know that Kon existed. The stuffed animal shook his stuffed paw at her.


	7. Striking Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kon is irritating as ever. The only difference is now he's bugging Karin.

The stuffed animal hopped down off the shelf, dressed in a rather interesting... that was the best way to put it... outfit. "Seriously, that is Ichigo's!"

"It isn't as if I took it from him," the small preteen stated firmly.

"So, Kurosaki gave it to you?' Kon folded his arms.

"No... I found it. Ichi-nii wasn't exactly being responsible for it," the dark haired teen stood up, and began to walk to the door with the badge. She grabbed her mesh bag with soccer ball

"Well, it makes sense that he's dumb enough to lose it," the stuffed lion stated. He then blinked a couple of times. "Hey, where are you going? You're still in your school uniform."

"I am heading out." Karin took a deep breath.

Kon bounced over and landed on her shoulder. "To do what?"

"I don't know really," the girl stated. She walked downstairs and her eyes glanced over to where Yuzu happened to be too busy in the kitchen to even begin to notice her. She walked until she got to the place where one could see a good sunset in the Western sky. She took a deep breath.

"Why here Karin-chan?" the stuffed lion stated.

At that, her fingers suddenly fingered the badge, deep in thought. "I wonder, could I be like Ichi-nii? I mean, how Ichi-nii once was?"

Kon pondered this for a few minutes, then spoke up. "I don't think this is a good idea, but things have been boring lately. Are you sure that Rukia nii-chan was in the room next door?"

"Yeah... and Toshiro too," Karin sighed. She continued to stare at the badge, then turned away from the nice site in front of her, and continued walking. She got close to an alley way, when she suddenly felt a great amount of spiritual pressure coming her way. At that, she dodged into an alley way, her feelings rather strained. It wasn't any where near her. "Do you think that the hollow is going to kill someone?"

"Huh?" the stuffed lion blinked a couple of times. "You can sense where hollows are?"

"I have for some time... ever since the house was attacked by them. I know that no truck came through the wall." Again, her eyes traveled to the substitute shingami badge. "I can't just let people get hurt."

"But I've seen you kick your soccer ball. You don't need to be a shingami to stop hollows," Kon stated.

"Why then would I have a shingami form then?" Karin stated. "I mean, I popped out of my body before."

"I don't know..." Kon's suddenly scratched his head, and he took on a rather ridiculous look."

"You look stupid... and that doesn't help me," Karin stated firmly. "I am going to do it."

At that, she placed the badge to her chest, and then felt the pulling motion on her body. She found herself to be dressed yet again in the shingami clothing. Kon fell to the ground with Karin's body. He squeezed out from underneath. "I think this is stupid!"

"Well, I have to go and do something about the Hollow," the preteen spoke up, wrapping her soccer ball net around her left arm.

"Normally, shingami put in a substitute soul so people don't think they're dead," the lion stated.

"You mean like you?" Karin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, like me," Kon puffed out his chest at her.

"You're a _guy_. You're also a _pervert_." came her response. "Watch my body for me."

"What... wait... I want to go with!" Kon complained.

"You'll just get away and there is no way that I am putting you into my body!" Karin snapped out."Particularly since you would hit on girls."

"So?" the lion stated.

"A girl, hitting on girls? You _don't_ get the picture?" the girl muttered, her eyes dark and causing the lion to back down. She hurried forward, coming to another place with hallways. The hollow was stepping on the street, causing the ground to quake and press down. It was bearing down on a spirit.

Karin pulled her soccer ball from her net, then wrapped her net back around her arm. "Hey! Ugly!"

At that, the hollow turned to face her. It slowly turned around, allowing the spirit to run away. "Ugly? Not as ugly as the little bitch in front of me."

"I don't care if I'm ugly!" the girl stated firmly. "I like the fact that I can kick a guys but!" For some reason, she felt better then she had in a couple of days. It seemed as if her motivation had come back.

"Well, you boast of being strong. I can tell your spiritual power is much greater then the spirit I was trying to eat," the Hollow moved forward. "I think, I will eat you, shingami."

"I think not," Karin dropped the soccer ball to the ground.

"A ball! Seriously, do you really think that is going to scratch me? At least go at me with a zampaktuo. Then again, you obviously don't know the name of yours," the hollow laughed. IT was lizard like with two small horns running down the middle of it's mask.

However, the small girl popped the soccer ball up onto her foot, and then launched it with a kick at the mask, the whole ball ablaze with a fiery glow. It smashed into the mask, cracking it and destroying the mask. The hollow then began to disappear from sight. Karin smirked at having succeeded and then went to retrieve her ball.

However, she felt spiritual pressure coming her way, spiritual pressure she recognized to be shingami. She dodged into one of the alley ways, pressing her back up against the wall. She glanced around the corner and saw two shingami come into view, and she pulled her reiatsu in the best that she could. She also took a deep breath, not moving much.

She recognized one as the fukutaicho of Toshiro. She was someone that was hard to mistake. This was due to her lovely orange hair and busty figure. In some ways, the woman reminded her of her own mother, mostly through looks. However, she also found that the woman, unlike her mother, had a rambunctious attitude.

The other female, she didn't recognize. However, the girl wore a badge similar to that which Matsumoto Rangiku wore indicating that she too was of a similar rank. Karin found herself pulling away from them. While Matsumoto might be lenient with her, she didn't think the other female would even begin to let her speak. Again, she took another deep breath.

**M**

Hinamori and Matsumoto were at Urahara's shop, when they felt the reiatsu of a Hollow and then soon afterward, a shingami. Momo didn't make a move to do anything, but instead glanced at the older shingami at what to do. However, Rangiku stood there herself, blinking, as there was something familiar.

Finally, Momo spoke up. "Shouldn't we go and investigate. That is what we are here for. Unless it is the Substitute Soul Reaper's reiatsu involved."

"No... it isn't Ichigo's," Matsumoto stated. She then moved to the door, catching a look from Urahara, almost as if he knew who the person they were now chasing was. They moved forward, moving fast. The both could feel the Hollow suddenly disappear from their senses. The came to a place that had quite a bit of damage to it, however, no one was near there.

Rangiku glanced around, trying to take things in. Her eyes caught sight of a soccer ball sitting on the road, and she could feel small hints of reiatsu, almost as if the person had already left. However, it could also be that the person was hiding their reiatsu. Quickly, her mind came to an event that to her was striking.

She remembered clearly, the time her small taicho had for once acted his age, or at least acted as close as she had ever seen him. She had loved the fact that had the chance to interact with others his age. She also noticed he had taken a liking to a certain female. Perhaps it wasn't a crush like she so liked to hope, but at least he had made a friend, someone he could relate to in some way.

She had picked up the girl's, Kurosaki Karin's, reiatsu and how it felt. Feeling the one now, she knew exactly who it was, and she also figured the person to be hiding. Hinamori though, spoke up. "If it isn't Kurosaki Ichigo, then that person... we have a person who stole a shingami's powers?"

"Now, now, Hinamori, we don't know that for sure," Matsumoto gave a weak smile. "Let's give the person the benefit of the doubt. I don't think they are here anymore."

"How can you be sure? I think they are hiding their reiatsu," Momo sighed. "The sooner we finish this, the sooner that we can get back. This whole business with the substitute shingami, he is obsessed with it, when he shouldn't be."

"Why shouldn't he be?" Rangiku asked.

"He feels guilty for falling short during the Winter War, for messing up," Hinamori stated firmly.

"Taicho _didn't_ mess up _,"_ the female snapped. "You _know_ that, that he didn't mean too."

"I know that he didn't mean to and I know that he hasn't been himself ever since the business with the substitute shingami," Momo stated, beginning to walk towards the alleyway that Rangiku happened to know Karin to be hiding in.

"You are still blind to the things that have been going on," Matsumoto sighed. Both of the young shingami, Toshiro and Hinamori could be quite stubborn. She watched as Momo peered around the corner.

"No one's here. I was so sure someone had been," the girl stated. She didn't see Rangiku let out a sigh of relief.


	8. Escaping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karin comes to realize there are repercussions to doing what her brother once did - namely the accusation of stealing someone's powers.

Karin listened carefully from the small alley way in which she had choosen to hide herself. To her best ability, she hid her reiatsu, She couldn't though, peek around the corner to see what was going on. However, she heard the brown haired female speak up. "If it isn't Kurosaki Ichigo, then that person... we have a person who stole a shingami's powers?"

At that, Karin found herself blinking a couple of times, then glanced at her feet. " _What does she mean by me stealing my shingami abilities? Does she mean I stole them from Ichi-nii because I stole his badge? But I didn't take it... I got it from someone else. Plus... Ichi-nii had already lost his powers. This makes no sense at all."_

"Now, now, Hinamori, we don't know that for sure. Let's give the person the benefit of the doubt. I don't think they are here anymore." Matsumoto's tone of voice had an almost lecturing tone to it, different from her normal bubbly self that had been present when Karin had first met her.

" _It seems like Matsumoto-san is trying to defend you_ ," the voice n Karin's head stated softly.

" _I don't know..._ " Karin closed her eyes for a few second.

The brown haired female then spoke up. "How can you be sure? I think they are hiding their reiatsu. The sooner we finish this, the sooner that we can get back. This whole business with the substitute shingami, he is obsessed with it, when he shouldn't be."

" _If anyone was obsessed, then why hasn't anyone come to visit. By he, she must be referring to Toshiro, unless there are more then the four here,"_ Karin thought ot herself.

"Why shouldn't he be?" came a surprising reply by Matsumoto, which caused Karin's eyes to snap open.

"He feels guilty for falling short during the Winter War, for messing up," the brown haired female stated firmly. This made Karin think that this was time to get out of there, and on the way out the back way, her ear picked up Rangiku referring to her small taicho.

" _Toshiro messed up on something?"_ Karin blinked a couple of times as she dodged onto the other side of the building, moving towards where she had left her body. Getting away was important to her. She slid into the alleyway and then went and moved into the alley way. She noticed Kon sitting near her body, then glancing up at her, saying nothing. "What?"

At that, she felt a heavy amount of reiatsu coming from behind her as a presence suddenly came from above, to right behind her. Before she had a chance to yell, she found her mouth covered, and a familiar voice coming to her. "Karin... it's me."

**~o0o~**

Hitsugaya found his face twisting up with irritation. He also felt his voice cracking as he yelled at the teenager. "You are a fucking idiot!"

"I know that," Ichigo stated rather simply. "Do you have anything else to say Toshiro?"

"It's captain Hitsugaya!" the preteen snapped, his cheeks heating up. He payed no mind to the fact that Kuchiki Rukia was raising her eyebrows at his behavior.

"How is everybody?" came Kurosaki's question. "It seems you've had a growth spurt..."

"Kurosaki," there was suddenly a clenching of a small fist, not to mention also a small jaw line. "Don't... tease me... about... my height."

At that, Rukia, who had been standing practically calm suddenly let out a stifled laugh.

"Teasing you about your height?" Ichigo blinked a couple of times. "I wasn't. You really have grown since I last saw you."

"I haven't grown since I entered Soul Reaper academy," Toshiro snapped out, his face twisted up in frustration.

"You just don't want to admit that you are going through puberty now." The teenager leaned back, his voice rather nonchalant about the whole thing. However, Hitsugaya's cheeks were turning a bright red."I know it's not a fun thing, but it is seriously part of life Toshiro."

As soon as Ichigo had said the word puberty, Kuchiki Rukia was suddenly on the floor, trying to hold her sides as the laughter pulled out."He didn't just say that... in front of a taicho!"

"Oi. You should know him better then anyone," came the small taicho's reply.

At that, Kurosaki let out a sigh. "Rukia's here, isn't she?"

"That is none of your business," the small boy's cheeks flared up even more. However, his head suddenly darted to the side, his eyes going wide as he recognized a rather familiar reiatsu. There was also the feel of being a shingami too it. "That is..."

"The shingami we've been told to keep an eye out on," Rukia stated firmly."

"What is going on?" Ichigo asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about Kurosaki. Kuchiki... I need you to go back to Urahara's and get Matsumoto and Hinamori," the small taicho stated, suddenly heading to the window.

"I was right, Rukia is here. Hold it!" Ichigo suddenly grabbed the back of Toshiro's uniform. "You are going to leave via the window? People will notice you."

"Just shut up Kurosaki," Hitsugaya brushed the teens hand off, hitting it rather roughly. He then hopped to the ground, then hurried off in his gigai towards the place, his feet moving fast. Glancing out of his corner of his eye, he saw Rukia head off towards the shop. At that, he slipped into a small alley way, where he first heard the pressure.

"You!" came a voice that normally wasn't squeaky. At that, Toshiro's eyes narrowed, as he noticed that the small stuffed toy standing in front of Kurosaki Karin's body. He then watched as Kon spread out his arms. "This isn't what you think."

"Isn't what I think?" Toshiro's gaze was rather dark. "Do you think that I am some stupid kid? Karin's the shingami we got signals of, isn't she?"

"Karin-chan," Kon suddenly pulled back in shock. "How do you know..."

At that, Hitsugaya bent down so that he was on level with Kon. "Listen to me very carefully. I know it is her... I know her reiatsu just as well as I know Kurosaki's."

"They are both Kuro..." However, Kon found himself freezing as the boy's glare suddenly grew. He didn't choose to say something. The hollow that Toshiro also felt, suddenly disappeared. "K... K..." And then he simply couldn't say anything.

Closing his eyes, Toshiro felt for the female. As he did, he sensed Matsumoto and Hinamori's reiatsu near her, "Damn... she likes getting into trouble."

At that, he quickly climbed up onto the fire escape. Kon glared at him. "Ichigo will be mad at you, if you go and take his baby sister to Soul Society just because she's now a shingami. She didn't steal anybodies power. It is her own."

"How do you know that?" Again, a pair of teal eyes glared at him, causing the stuffed animal to freeze. Things were silent. Toshiro could feel the small female moving away from Matsumoto and Hinamori. His eyes glanced, taking in her body carefully.

She was dressed in rather girlish clothing, possibly a school uniform. He figured she wouldn't act girly unless something like that forced her too. Same with her pulling her hair into a small ponytail in the back. In some ways, he was pissed at her, but then he had to blame himself for some of this. He had in fact told her that she was just like her brother.

" _She looks kind of cute, doesn't she?_ " his dragon zampaktuo hummed, a tad bit of humor in his voice.

" _Seriously... don't go there. She's Kurosaki's sister and someone of the living world_ ," Hitsugaya let out a sigh.

" _Yes, but that doesn't mean you can't like her..._ " the dragon hummed again.

At that, he saw a small figure slip into the alleyway. Toshiro found himself blinking, rather surprised to see the small girl dressed as a shingami. It seemed fitting somehow, though he couldn't place it. She then walked over to Kon, who simply was still upset about the gazes that Hitsugaya had given him. "What?"

At that, Toshiro found himself frustrated at the fact that she seemed to be brushing off the situation so easily. " _Doesn't she realize how much danger she is in_?"

At that, his reiatsu unintentionally flared, and he found himself jumping down, using his shingami abilities and some of his reiatsu to come up behind her. The fear that hadn't been apparent before, suddenly came forward, directed at the small taicho, despite the fact that she should know his reiatsu well.

" _No_ ," Toshiro thought to himself, as he brought his hand over her mouth. " _She couldn't be that well trained as to know it was me. Kurosaki couldn't. She's a lot less dense then him, but she barely was around me._ " He then spoke up. "Karin... its me."

" _You do realize, you used her first name?_ " Hyorinmaru sighed.


	9. Biting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshirou's attempt at helping Karin doesn't go over well.

As he had placed his hand over Karin's mouth, he found himself close enough to feel the tense strain in aura coming off her body. "Karin... its me." As soon as he said her name, he suddenly felt her aura change from tense, somewhat fearful, to become fully of anger. His mind drifted to when she had kicked a soccer ball at his head, which should have been a warning.

Karin suddenly bit down onto his hand, then brought her elbows backward into his stomach, hitting him hard, startling him enough to cause her to wiggle away. She turned around, her eyes completely filled with irritation. "Toshiro..."

Said boy simply shoved his hands into his pockets, then glanced at her still body lying on the ground. "Care to explain?"

"Me, care to explain?" The black haired Kurosaki held a hand defensively to her chest. Her face contorted in anger.

"You should probably get back into your body, before something bad happens," he simply stated.

"You may be a captain Toshiro, but you're not the boss of me," the girl stated.

At that, his two teal eyes glanced over at her body. "Seriously, what the hell has gotten into your brother and you?" He reached over and shoved her lightly toward her body. "Your brother actually had a few incidents where he happened to have his body mistaken for a dead body."

Karin glared at him, then slipped into her body on the ground, then stood up. She began to dust off her clothing. Toshiro raised an eyebrow, then spoke up again. "You'll need to wash your school uniform... it's white, and dirt tends to stick."

To his surprise, she turned towards him, her eyes having a high amount of anger with them. "Toshiro... speaking of uniforms..."

"What about uniforms. I know I'm not in my shingami uniform, that would be because I am in a gigai. End of story." The boy's face remained emotionless.

"Uniform?" Karin snapped back, then poked her finger hard into his chest. "I wasn't talking about you're shingami uniform. I was talking about the fact that you're wearing the same high school uniform as my brother. You're _in_ high school."

"So?" Toshiro reached up and scratched his head. "I told you, I wasn't an Elementary school student. I never lied to you?"

"No. But you weren't upfront with me about the fact that you are an adult, despite the fact that I knew you were a shingami, and kept acting like you were a kid my age. I bet you were laughing then, just as you are now," Karin snapped out, waving her hand.

Hitsugaya found himself blinking a few times in shock. "What do you mean? I don't get what you're talking about?"

"I know you are a lot older then me, Toshiro," the female grumbled, poking him in the chest again.

At that, Toshiro felt his temper suddenly flare up. "I am not an adult!"

"I was told that people age differently in soul society. I know you're not my age, like I thought you were," Karin's eyes turned cold and she grabbed the front of his shirt. "How old are you really? You _never answered_ my question from about two years ago."

Hitsugaya's teal eyes narrowed, turning dark themselves. "So you want the truth? It seems the truth is making you hate me."

"I thought you were cool, Toshiro. I thought you were amazing, because you were a kid who got treated like an adult," the girl stated, her entire tone dark.

"Like an adult," At first, his face twisted up in anger, but then it softened. "Like an adult... your question. Repeat it."

"You mean the one about how old you are?" Karin began to calm down. "I don't get why you're willing to tell me."

"Because. I realize now, you never were trying to treat me like someone who was younger then yourself. You were trying to treat me as an equal," Toshiro stated. "Ask..."

"I did... but..." Her dark eyes closed, and a hint of annoyance appeared in her voice. "How old are you Toshiro?"

"The truth of the matter is, it is a sore spot for me because I don't know exactly myself. Neither do I know the year I was born, or the day I died and went to soul society. I know I'm over forty years of age and that I wasn't born in Soul Society."

"If you don't get how you don't know the date of your birth, or the date of your death, and not know if you were born here, or in soul society," Karin sighed.

"Because... I remember how I died. It's as simple as that," the boy stated firmly, glancing at the ground. "There is something else I need too talk to you about."

"What would that be?" the small female asked.

"Hitsugaya Taicho?" came a female voice from nearby. Both heads turned to see a small female. Karin suddenly found herself suddenly brightening up.

"Rukia nee-chan!" The small girl suddenly found herself hugging the female who had stepped into the alleyway. "Yuzu and I missed you. I know that Ichi-nii can't see ghosts anymore, but I can still see you."

"Yes... I am... kind of surprised that you can see me... umm... like this," Rukia patted the small girl on the head.

"Hey, nee-san! I want to hug you too!" Kon suddenly wailed, only to find himself stomped on.

"Kon! It's good to see you!" Rukia's voice had a dark tone to it. Her tone then changed. "Karin-chan, Hitsugaya Taicho hasn't been bullying you, has he? Because if he has, I don't care about rank, I will kick your butt."

"Oi..." Toshiro felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

"I found out that he's older then me," the girl stated. Rukia raised an eyebrow at the small taicho as his cheeks fluffed out in irritation.

"You know Hitsugaya Taicho..." Rukia patted the small girl's head. "Usually you get irritated with people talking about your height... or how young you are. But right now..."

"She called me, an adult," the boy grumbled out.

At that, the older of the two females raised an eyebrow, then pushed Karin away slightly. "So, you found out that people from Soul Society age differently?"

"Yeah..." the darker haired of the twin spoke up.

"In soul society, we measure by age equivalency. I mean, we have an adult who dies and goes to Soul Society, but a child who has more years then him because they died young and then came to soul society is still a child," Rukia stated. "They act and think like children."

"Toshiro..." Karin turned her head towards Toshiro, who simply glanced away in irritation.

"Ahh... as for Hitsugaya Taicho... he's what we call a child genius," Rukia smiled. "He's the youngest ever to graduate from Soul Reaper academy, the youngest to achieve Bankai, and the youngest to ever become a captain of the gotei thirteen."

The preteen then chose to turn towards the white haired boy. "I am sorry I made the wrong assumption Toshiro." Her eyes glanced at the ground. "Things just aren't going well. Like the fact Ichi-nii never told me that I'm the only one who can see spirits anymore. But... that's not your fault."

"So... you were thinking I was one more person who happened to break your trust?" The small captain glanced away. "I apologize too."

"What for... you..." Karin gave the boy a rather surprised look.

However, Rukia spoke up, and spun the seventh grader around. "Let me guess, this is your middle school uniform? It looks so cute on you! You look so grown up Karin-chan!"

"You should tell that to Yuzu. She waited to show her uniform to her until opening ceremony day, and what does he do. He completely forgets and asks me for the soy sauce," the girl stated.

"Guys are morons," Toshiro piped up before Rukia could say anything.

Karin blinked a couple of times. "Toshiro, you are a guy..."

"Well, you said it yourself earlier, I was a moron for not getting what you said about uniforms and it not being the shingami uniform that you were meaning, and instead the high school uniform," the boy stated firmly.

"I don't think..." Rukia paused, then finished. "I don't think that was because you were a guy. A lot of people say things go over your head because you over think things."

"Well, most guys I know are perverts," the small taicho stated.

"Like who?" Karin perked up.

"Kyoraku Taicho, Abarai Renji, Kyoraku Taicho, Hisagi Shuhei, Kyoraku Taicho, Tetsuzaemon Iba, Kyoraku Taicho..." Toshiro's breath came hard with irritation.

"Hey... why did you name that one person multiple times... a captain non-the-less," the preteen female female sighed.

"That would be because Kyoraku Taicho is a well known womanizer," Rukia let out. "Renji isn't a pervert... I grew up with him."

"I went to Soul Academy and graduated the same year as him He had some really dumb behaviors when it came to girls," the small taicho stated.

"Hey... guys going gaga over women shaped like Matsumoto-san is something that goes without saying. Even Ichigo had a problem resisting her..." Rukia sighed.

"That isn't it..." the small boy stated. "Though, she does deserve a lot more respect then people give her credit for."

"Hitsugaya Taicho... everyone knows you have the most lazy fukutaicho ever and she sticks you with all your division paperwork," the shingami noble stated firmly.

"That's what most people see. She's actually very intelligent. Unfortunately, she uses it mostly to while her way out of things," Toshiro stated firmly.

"I've seen Matsumoto-san go from bubbly personality, to very serious. I think she knows," Karin stated firmly.

"Knows what?" Rukia watched as the girl's eyes went wide from having let something slip.

"I didn't..." Karin glanced at the ground. "I didn't steal anybodies powers."

"What do you mean stealing other people's powers?" the Kuchiki girl mummered, concern in her voice.

"The girl with brown hair said that was likely how I came by having shingami powers." The middle schooler shuffled her feat.

"You're the shingami we've been looking for?" Rukia blinked a couple of times, only to have Karin nod her head. Glancing over at Hitsugaya Toshiro, she spoke up again. "Hitsugaya Taicho... did you know?"

"I knew as soon as we left Kurosaki's place who we were looking for. I know Karin's reiatsu rather well," the boy stated.

"So, this isn't the first time either of you have met?" Rukia's voice strained. "Remember what I said? I don't care about your rank!"

"Rukia nee-chan! Toshiro saved me once before, with a hollow I couldn't take care of on my own. I only recently found out about having shingami powers," Karin blurted out. "Please don't be mad at him. He's my friend."

"Karin... I know that you didn't steal anyone's powers, but... seriously... this is bad. Particularly since you've met Hitsugaya Toshiro before. Not to mention my past history with your brother and how he got his powers. I wasn't a seated officer, but Hitsugaya Taicho is a high ranking official. This is dangerous," Kuchiki blurted out.

"I could care one bit what happens to me," Hitsugaya spoke up. "I trust since you care for Ichigo's sister... no, sisters from what I've heard, you think of them as sisters. So, I trust for you not to say anything about this to Soul Society. Or Kurosaki for that matter. Or particularly Hinamori."

"You are planning on covering this up?" came the question. "Never mind, that you are willing to do so. But you tend to go by the book."

"I think soul society owes Kurosaki Ichigo a huge dept, so I'll step out on the limb on this one. Plus, there are certain things in Soul Society I don't agree with," Toshiro breahed out. "Karin, where did you get your brother's shingami badge from? No... I'll ask later, as it might be best that you head home before your family worries to much about you."

"The only one likely to worry is Yuzu, and she doesn't start worrying unless I'm not in bed," the preteen girl sighed.


	10. Night and Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even Rukia doesn't take Toshiro's words well yet that only begins to summarize Toshiro's problems.

After saying that, the Kurosaki twin turned and headed home, not much arguing the point with Hitsugaya Toshiro. Rukia also watched from her shingami form. The small female shingami then spoke up. "Hitsugaya Taicho... may I give you a piece of advice?"

"I don't know why you would, but go ahead an tell me," the white haired child spoke up, his eyes rather narrow.

"You said that you didn't care about what happens to you. You should though, know enough about the Kurosaki family to know that none of them would be pleased about their friends getting hurt," Rukia sighed.

"Your point is Kuchki?" Toshiro raised an eyebrow at her.

"If Ichigo was willing to go as far as he did to protect his baby sister, don't you think that Karin would also go that far?" Rukia commented.

"Unfortunately... I already figured that..." the boy stated.

"Then avoid saying you belittle your life in front of her. She's upset enough about other things as it is," the female stated.

Two teal eyes blinked, a large amount of innocence showing through. "I really hadn't thought that my words were..."

"Hey, taicho!" came the rather bubbly voice of a familiar fukutaicho. Matsumoto came forward and glomped her small taicho from behind. "Did you find the shingami person we've been looking for."

Hitsugaya Toshiro's face twisted up at first with a look of complete frustration. Irritability, he pushed the woman's arms away and sidled away from her. Glancing over, he saw Hinamori with a frustrated look on her face. "No..."

"Oh... to bad," the busty woman sighed.

"Yes. We just missed the shingami," Momo muttered. "I wanted to get this over with, so that we can forget this place."

"Forget... why?" Toshiro glanced up, a rather surprised look on his face. However, he received no answer.

"So... where are we each going to stay tonight?" Rangiku smiled. "We'll be stuck here for awhile. I think I'll go check up on Orihime-chan. You want to come with me, Hinamori?"

At that, the brown haired female blinked a couple of times. "I don't see the point in checking up on someone from the living world, when we have no reason anymore to have contact with them."

"You weren't... exactly involved that much, Hinamori Fukutaicho." Rukia spoke up. "Shingami aren't supposed to get involved with the living, but this was one of those times we ended up doings so."

"No... the situation wasn't normal," Toshiro stated.

"Well, since Ichigo knows I'm here, I'll go get my gigai and stay in his closet again," Kuchiki stated, heading off.

The other two females watched as the small taicho suddenly tensed up. " _What_ did you say?"

"That I would be staying in Ichigo's closet. It makes a great room," Rukia stated, her face faltering.

"But..." there was a pause for a bit. He didn't say anything though, as Kuchiki disappeared.

"Taicho... are you going to stay on Orihime-chan's roof again?" Matsumoto asked.

"Hmm... no, I'm going to go sleep on Kurosaki's," the small boy muttered. "I can't believe those two are so stupid. Byakuya Taicho would have their hides if he knew."

"Are you sure there isn't another reason you're going?" Rangiku asked, which caused him to suddenly turn to her, his eyes wide. "You know... Karin-chan?"

At that, his eyes narrowed. "Matsumoto... don't go there. Don't put me with those two morons either." At that, he turned and left.

"Whose Karin-chan?" Hinamori asked, a bit of concern crossing her face.

"Oh... nobody really. I just like teasing him about it," the woman laughed, only to get an odd look from the other female.

**M**

The small taicho passed the night sleeping on the roof. He awoke as the sun was coming up, blinking a couple of times to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes. He could hear someone yelling. From the fact that it was a female voice, he figured it to be Kurosaki's other sister. Sitting up, he watched for the Kurosaki family members to leave for school.

Shrugging his shoulders, he popped his shoulders, then popped a piece of soul candy into his mouth. "Go find Matsumoto and go with her. Behave."

He then headed off, hoping on top of the rooftops, watching the two Kurosaki twins walking. Karin's sister seemed to be talking off her ear, and to be having a rather good mood. He watched carefully as they entered the middle school doors. He then hopped down, knowing that he wouldn't at all be seen, and saw the two sisters head over to the foot locker.

He saw the two sisters pull off their shoes into their own footlockers. He saw Karin pause as she put her hand in with her shoes, then turned to her sister. "Yuzu... head onto class. I'll catch up to you."

At that, she pulled out the letter, and began to read it as the small taicho stayed out of the way of the students passing through the hall so that his form, which was invisible to them, wouldn't be bumped into. He saw her hand suddenly scrunch up the piece of paper, and he decided to move a little bit closer. "What is that?"

At that, Karin spun around, a rather shocked look on her face. "Toshiro..." She suddenly felt him pluck the letter from her hand. In a whisper, she spoke up. "That really isn't any of your business."

The white haired boy's eyes scanned the letter quickly, only to become wide. His mouth opened slack like. "Why?"

"I don't know why," Karin whispered.

"Is the part about..." Toshiro blinked, slightly pale.

"What part?" Karin raised an eyebrow. "None of it is true Toshiro, though I don't know why you would be worried about it."

"Well... whose writing the letters?" came the young mans question.

"It's not really your business and not something that a shingami should worry about, particularly since you aren't part of the living world," the girl stated, going to put her shoes in. she closed the shoe locker, then headed towards the hall to get to her class, only to have a group of girls step in her way.

"Well, if it isn't the little gay girl, " the other seventh grader snapped out, which caused a flare of icy cold reiatsu to flare forward. "Oh, did the temperature drop because you're mad at us?"

"No... I think the temperature really did drop," one of the other girls stated.

"I am going to ignore you. Now, if you will please move so I can get to class," Karin sighed.

"We don't want you in our school," the girl stated.

Hitsugaya felt another urge to let his reiatsu suddenly flare out, then thought better of it. He went and crept over to the one girls shoes and untied them then retied them, with the Kurosaki twin watching from the corner of her eye. "Look... this is not your school."

"Most definitely not," Toshiro stated, quietly moving to the next person. Glancing up, he could see Karin's eyebrow twitch.

"Oh... so now your getting angry?" the girl chuckled.

"At you... no..." the bullied female stated, just as Toshiro went and retied the last pair off shoes.

"Oh, I am so sure," the girl stated, suddenly flipping her hair.

She then turned to walk away, only suddenly falling flat on her face. The other two girls started at this and fell backwards. Karin felt her eyebrow twitch, and then grabbed the shingami captain's arm, dragging him around the corner, her hands holding onto her school shoes. Getting to a place that was more private, she dropped down the shoes and slipped them on. "What the hell were you doing?"

"What do you mean? I untied their shoes, then tied them together," Toshiro stated, folding his arms as if the answer was obvious. The preteen girl's jaw dropped from shock because of his statement. He blinked a couple off times, then glanced at the floor, scratching his head. "I did something wrong... and very stupid, didn't I?"

"Yeah. You did. Let me rephrase my question though, as you did not answer it. Well, you answered it, but the fact is, most people would have not answered the question as it was asked, but what was implied," Karin let out a sigh. "Why did you do that to them?"

"They were picking on you," came the straight forward answer. Toshiro's eyes, which normally showed a level of maturity, suddenly had a large amount of innocence to them.

"Well..." The female closed her eyes. "Toshiro, didn't I tell you not to interfere?"

"Yes. But..." Toshiro paused. "No matter what I say isn't a good excuse, as I did not listen to what you said."

"Are you always like this?" Karin asked rather quickly.

The small taicho leaned up against the wall, his eyes narrowing and he glanced away from the girl. "You mean how I don't think like other people and end up walking into things because I can't read things. Depends on the situation."

"Your tone of voice changed right there," the small female stated, watching him as he turned to her, his eyes suddenly going wide.

"I don't have a split personality, if that is what you are thinking." However, he quickly went back to glancing away. "I'm sorry if I freaked you out. I only meant to come ask about your brother's soul reaper badge."

"Well, with what happened today, it is going to have to wait until after school," Karin began to walk away.

"Wait..." came the young taicho's voice. "Karin... I am sorry about what I did. Particularly if it goes and make things worse for you."

"I'm not mad at you," the girl stated. "I'm mad at my brother, my dad, those girls, the guys. Dad's got some secret and is a major reassessment to be around. Ichigo wants to leave home. Those girls are calling me things I'm not. The guys don't want to play soccer with me anymore."

"I don't get why," Toshiro stated, a bit of that unique naivety and innocence that was him.

"Because I'm a girl," Karin smirked.

"Then just kick a soccer ball at their heads like you did to me. Let them know that just because you're a girl, you're just as tough as them," Toshiro folded his arms. "From my experience, girls are better then most of the guys I know."

"Should... I be asking you if..." Karin closed her eyes, pausing a bit. "Toshiro... have you yet taken interest in girls?"

"Didn't I tell you yesterday that if a guy starts liking girls, they become perverts," the boy stated firmly.

"You've had... rather bad experiences with males and how they deal with females haven't you..." the girl sighed.

"I don't get what you mean by that," Toshiro sighed.

"Kicking soccer balls at guys head won't solve the problem I am having with them Toshiro," the girl stated. "They didn't notice I was a girl before, now they do. I'll try to meet up at Urahara's shop after school, and then I'll answer your question.


	11. Girl's Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo finds herself unused to the way things work since Ichigo intervened in everyone's lives.

The apartment complex lights had already come on when Matsumoto and Hinamori arrived. Rangiku walked up to where she knew the apartment was, then leaned over. A grin spread on her face. "Orihime-chan left the name plate the same as when we were here!"

"What do you mean?" Hinamori stated, suddenly leaning forward, then blinking a couple of times. "It has your name and Hitsugaya Taicho's."

"You haven't called him Shiro-chan ever since the Winter War," the busty female sighed.

"He doesn't want me to," Hinamori stated, her tone rather level. "He wants to distance himself from me."

"Do you believe that is his reason?" However, Rangiku didn't wait for an answer, either because she already knew, or because she didn't want to. She reached over and rang the doorbell.

There was a clicking of the door open. A young female peeked out. "Who... oh!" The door then closed and the locks were undone, then opened as another rather robust female stepped out to glomp Matsumoto. "Ran-chan! I missed you!"

"I missed you too sweetie. I just so happen to be in the living world on a mission, and I thought I would stay with you," the female stated, then pulled away, sending a smile at the other shingami. "This is Hinamori Momo. She's the fukutaicho of the fifth division."

"Oh! You'll be staying too! It will be nice having guests. Living by myself is rather lonely. Maybe if there is time, Tatsuki can come over, we can have a sleepover. Come in! Come in!"

At that, Orihime danced away, her mood rather cheerful. She headed over to the kitchen area and began to put a pot of tea onto the burner. Hinamori blinked a couple of times, then whispered to her fellow fukutaicho. "Is it really all right to indulge her like this?"

Matsumoto simply nodded her head. "She can see spirits, and even has her own ability. She's good at healing people up. She even helped taicho out once when h really needed it." She and Hinamori sat down at the small coffee table.

"Speaking of Toshiro-kun, where is he? Is he stuck in soul society, or is he going to be staying on the roof again?" the girl stted, setting three cups of tea down on the table. She then began to poor it. "Do you want something to eat?"

"Sure! I'll get it though!" Matsumoto stated, a rather large smile on her face.

"Rangiku-san rather knows her way around your place." Momo's voice reflected a nervousnes.

"Well, of course, you can see the whole place but the bathroom from here," Orihime chimed in.

"Can I ask what your relationship with Hitsugaya Taicho is?" Hinamori asked, her tone continuing.

"Nothing really. He's closest to Kurosaki-kun, then all of us. Why do you ask?" Orihime smiled at Momo.

"Well... you called him by his first name," Momo breathed out.

"That's just part of Orihime-chan's personality," Matsumoto stated, bringing back a whole trey of foods. She set it down. "Let's eat up."

Hinamori's face suddenly paled a bit at what she saw, but politely took something that looked someone appetizing. Orihime bubble at her, "So, what do you think."

"It's interesting... edible." Momo gulped down the food.

"I'm glad," Orihime continued t o smile, then turned towards Rangiku. "Thanks for the advice back then about Kurosaki-kun."

"Ahh... how is that going?" Rangiku stated.

"I have my own place with him, despite it not being the place I really would like," Inoue glanced at the table. "It's still kind of hard to think about, but after seeing Kurosaki fight like that. Well, we rather live in two different worlds. He hasn't forgotten about Rukia-chan either. Truth be told, he isn't himself. Without his shingami powers, it is almost as if he doesn't have his place."

"So, what did you find your place with him to be?" The older busty female gave off a big smile.

"Oh... I cheer him up by being silly. Kurosaki doesn't need that kind of girlfriend though. Friend, yes, but not a girlfriend," the small female glanced at the ground.

"So then, you have no problem with Rukia staying in Ichigo's closet?" Rangiku suddenly asked, a small smirk on her face.

Orihime's smile suddenly dropped to a frown. She then rolled up her sleeve. "I don't care how good of a friend I am with Ichigo. If he does something indecent with Ichigo, I'll lock him in his closet and I'll drag her to join a girls slumber party, us three, her, and Tatsuki."

Hinamori watched, only picking up a few other bites of food, letting the two females demolish most of the food. Rangiku glanced at the ceiling. "You need not worry about Ichigo and Rukia. Nothing happened before, and taicho went to sleep on the roof when he heard it from Rukia-chan's mouth. We'll likely meet up with them at school."

"School?" Momo blinked a couple of times in surprise.

"It's a cover!" Rangiku waved her hand. "This way we don't stand out in gigai and can talk to Kurosaki as need be."

"But, he still hasn't regained his powers. There is no point talking to him?" Hinamori shook her head in disbelief.

"Others of us might know something. There are seven of us who can see spirits now. Well, Uryu could see them before. But Chad and me went to Soul Society with Ichigo. And then there is Tatsuki-chan, Keigo-kun, Mizurio-kun and Chisuru-chan." Orihime let out a laugh.

"You'll not want to call Taicho by his title while we're at school," Rangiku stated firmly, her eyes narrowing at Orihime.

"What do you call him then?" Momo asked, her face rather bewildered.

"I haven't found the need. Just call him Hitsugaya-kun," the female sighed. She then shrugged her shoulders. "If you two don't mind, I'm going to go and take a shower. Get to know each other, all right."

Orihime poured herself some more tea, then took another snack. Hinamori found herself speaking up. "Apologize for me saying this, as it is not meant as an insult. But I don't see the point of getting to know each other, when we won't be here that long. If you don't mind, I will like to get to sleep." At that, she made a quick bow to the other female.

"I'll get a futon ready then," the girl stated, getting up and going to the storage closet on the side of the room.

**M**

To Hinamori, walking to school like a living person, as a normal high school student felt weird. It reminded her of when she went to Soul Reaper Academy, yet it felt different. She got to the gate and began to walk forward with the two other girls. She wasn't at all comfortable with the new situation. Matsumoto turned her head towards Momo. "I've been here before, so I don't need to pretend to be a new student. You do though."

"What!" Hinamori suddenly flustered up. However, this didn't last long, as someone ran into her, hard from the back causing her to crash into the ground. She let out a yelp of pain.

But then, so to did the person who happened to knock her over. "Owe."

She tried sitting up. However, she found it rather hard to do so, until Rangiku reached over and pulled the small person off of her. She stood up and dusted off her clothing. She then glanced over to see a small figure in Rangiku's arms. "Hitsugaya-kun, I can't believe you would be that reckless!"

"Not him..." came the mild reply as the two teal eyes glanced away from their eyes.

"Momo-chan... I think this is just tai... his gigai," the female sighed.

"I can't believe that he would do something like this," the small female stated.

"We've got a few minutes before class starts, so he might show up in time." Orihime tried smiling the whole thing away.

"He better. There is no telling what that _thing_ will do. They tend not to be very bright," Hinamori hissed, her face turning pale.

"I know," Rangiku sighed, stepping to the side, as the rest of the students started moving forward into the school and to their classrooms. She let her reiatsu go off in a few flares. Eventually, an icy reiatsu came near, and the small taicho popped back into the body.

Hinamori put her hands on her hips and glared at him, her cheeks puffed out. Glancing up, he simply scratched his head. "What?"

"You've got to be more carefully," the female stated.

"I didn't become a taicho for anything, Hinamori," the boy stated firmly.

"You're still a child!" the girl snapped out.

At that, Toshiro simple turned and walked away. "I got that. I am heading to the classroom. We might find something out from the others."


	12. Bitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro admits to Rangiku what he did at Karin's school, but that's only the beginning regarding how complicated the situation was.

Shoes clicked on the school hallway floor as two of the shingami headed to the class of Kurosaki Ichigo. Matsumoto glanced at the numbers on the hallway walls that were right above the doors. "I see that Ichigo isn't in the same class as before."

"Did you actually expect him to fail?" the small taicho chimed in, continuing to look straight forward.

"The place you went, you wouldn't happen to have gone to see Karin-chan? That, and she wouldn't have to be the shingami we're looking for?" the woman asked.

"What of it?" Toshiro's voice filled with irritation.

"I don't understand why you needed to go this morning, rather then later. Weren't you thinking?" Rangiku's tone turned dark.

At that, he paused in his walking and stepped to the side. "I wanted to ask her how she came by her brother's shingami badge."

"Yet as I said, that could have waited until this afternoon. Normally, you think more about your actions," the woman sighed, flipping some of her hair away.

"You're right. Normally I think about things," the small taicho started away, only to have Rangiku grab the back of his school uniform.

"What did you do this time only thinking things half way through?" the female reprimanded.

Toshiro took a deep breath. "I tied together the shoelaces of a group pf girls who wouldn't leave Karin alone."

"Now why did you do that?" The woman took a deep breath. Her eyes showed worry rather then the usual mischievous spark."

"Are you going to bubble over with more comments about how it is all right to like a girl, to show interest? I simply couldn't stomach their behavior," Hitsugaya's words were strained, not from anger, but from frustration. His face twisted up slightly because of this.

"I wasn't going to say anything of the kind... you're the one who brought it up. I think though, you need to ask why you are choosing to do the things your doing. I can't answer that for you," Rangiku stated firmly. "And keep in mind, Hinamori finds things strange as it is."

"I am not sure what you are getting to," the boy moved froward and then opened the door to the classroom. Upon entering, most of the students paid no mind to them, almost as if they had been there for a very long time.

The face of Keigo first fell onto the small white haired youth, his eyes bugging out and his face paling. However, his eyes then fell onto Matsumoto and he rushed forward, only to be knocked down by a good punch to the chin.

"That's..." Tatsuki blinked a couple of times, recognizing Rangiku from when she had appeared int front of her in Karakura Town.

"Matsumoto Rangiku and Hitsugaya Toshiro," Kojima spoke up, his fingers fiddling with his cell phone. "They're shingami."

"So... I thought all of that was over. I thought it was only one day," Chizuru blinked a couple of times herself.

"You didn't have to deal with the other stuff." Tatsuki's face twisted in irritation. "I saw her that day."

"Maybe we can find out something that Ichigo wasn't able to tell us," the other female stated. "I like that female's chest..." This caused Tatsuki to take her elbow and land it hard onto the cranium of the female. It was then that Orihime breezed into the room behind the two shingami.

Tugging on Toshiro's small arm, Inoue pulled the boy towards the group, Rangiku following close behind. "I introduced Hinamori-san to our homeroom teacher. I know you two know Chad and Uryu. These are Kurosaki's other good friends."

"Yo!" Tatsuki raised a hand rather in some sort of mirth.

"Kurosaki is?" Toshiro glanced around, looking for the substitute shingami, his eyes showing for once a great deal of interest.

At that, Mizuiro glanced out the window. "Ichigo's arguing with Rukia down in the courtyard. It seems things are starting to return to normal."

"Normal" Kiego's head slammed against his desk. "Seeing ghost is not normal. I didn't want anymore of this. I figured if Ichigo ended up finally having a normal life, we could too."

"You mean normal, as in contracting out to school clubs weekly ever since them," Tatsuki narrowed her eyes in irritation. However, her facial features changed to slight shock as the small taicho gave her a rather surprised look.

"hey, making money that way wasn't my idea. It was Ichigo's." Asano let out a deep sigh, his head buried in his arms, almost as if he didn't want to talk about the subject.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "Kurosaki is doing what? Why?"

"Don't you know? I mean, you guys spent a lot of time with Ichigo," Tatsuki suddenly sat up, her fingers twiddling. A bit of mirth played on her face.

"We... I haven't seen Kurosaki for over a year. He's not acting normal for what I remember," Hitsugaya stated firmly.

"How so?" Arisawa's face twisted to a different emotion, this time perking up and sowing an interest.

The small boy's mouth opened up, then finally spoke up. "He's sort of distancing himself. Almost like he wants to forget about us."

"His dad, his dad," Mizuiro waved his hand. "I don't know all the details, but their relationship went down the tubes after that incident. Not as if it was good in the first place. His dad is rather embarrassing."

"We never ran into the man, so we never knew," Rangiku spoke up.

"Believe me when I say that's a good thing," Tatsuki smirked.

"I don't think hes' that bad," Orihime stated, her mouth creasing in determination.

The flat chested female raised an eyebrow. "It's rather impressive that you figured that out though. It took us some time."

"Sometimes when you know someone, you don't see changes when you're always around them. You see them when you've been away," Toshiro stated, cocking his hand a bit to emphasize his point.

"Aren't you a little kid?" Chizuru folded her arms across her chest, rather perturbed at the way Hitsugaya was acting.

It was then that Rukia and Ichigo came through the class room door. Kurosaki took his hand and hit the small taicho's head with the side. "Why'd I know you guys would end up coming here?"

"What was that for?" Toshiro turned to glare at the orange haired teen, placing a hand on his head in irritation more then anything.

"Why do you need to come to class?" The sooner you find the shingami, the sooner you can go home," the orange haired teen shook his head, his eyes having a rather distant look.

The small boy's eyebrow twitched at the teenagers reaction. "We thought we might ask if anyone has noticed something simple that is out of the norm that might help is."

"It will have to wait until lunch time," Tatsuki stated as the teacher came into the room.

"I am going to be introducing a new student," the woman smiled. "This is Hinamori Momo."

"Another one?" Keigo muttered glancing up. "She is kind of cute." However, he jumped as he felt the temperature drop, not to mention a rather murderous look coming from the child prodigy.

**M**

Toshiro sat in the classroom, tapping his pencil on the desk. The mission bored him, but then, he had walked himself into this one. There was no hollow showing up like he wanted it to. He then glanced over to the window, wishing something to happen, but lunch actually came. To his surprise, when the time came for lunch, a good deal of Ichigo's friend pulled up desks to form a group, including the shingami in with them.

However, he saw Ichigo slink out of the classroom. Rukia's face twisted up in irritation as she made to head to the door, however, Orihime grabbed the girls sleeve. "Rukia... we haven't talked in a long time."

"Ahh... yes, but..." the female glanced at the door.

"You guys ask them, I'm going to go talk to Kurosaki," the boy stated, getting up and hurrying for the door. Lunch time in truth wouldn't last long, and he found himself bothered by the substitute soul reapers actions. It felt like it twisted feeling wise, something that was hard to place. He got up and followed after Kurosaki, not noticing Tatsuki raising her eyebrow at him.

He watched as the young man walked to the stairway, and then up the stairs. On the way there, he bumped into another student. The boy blinked a couple of times. "Have you seen Kurosaki Ichigo come past here?"

"He was heading upstairs. I was going to talk to him... but if you need to talk to him, you can first," the boy stated firmly, his politeness coming through. The boy, who had a light colored hair smiled, then headed up the stairs.

"You know... I haven't seen you around before," the young man remarked.

"I don't exactly like being noticed," Toshiro stated, the corner of his mouth twisting up upon hearing this.

"I guess. But a little kid like you, with hair and eye coloring like yours," the student however left his comment at that. Toshiro though felt his face twist when he heard the word kid. However, he brushed it off as being one of those things that he couldn't do anything about it. The teen opened the door and then stepped out onto the roof.

Hitsugaya followed closely and then stood against the wall, waiting for the young man to finish talking with the former substitute shingami. He saw Ichigo turn around. "Ah... Satoda-san. Sorry about the mess yesterday."

"No biggy. I wanted to say that the soccer club isn't mad at you," the young man stated firmly. "I think that they were stupid for pulling you."

"That's it?" Ichigo turned and glanced out at the street from where he was.

"Yeah... that kid over there wants to talk to you though," the young man stated. "I'm glad I didn't have to go to your class to find you."

Kurosaki turned his head to see the small taicho leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest. "Did you have to listen in Toshiro?"

The other person disappeared down the stairs. Hitsugaya was irritated with the orange haired teen. "So, they were telling the truth when they said you were contracting out to play on high school teams. Isn't that cheating?"

Ichigo turned around, then folded his arms across his chest, similar to the small taicho. "I don't see why it is any of your problem."

"None of my problem?" Toshiro found himself snapping out the words.

"We live in two separate worlds Toshiro," Ichigo sighed. "Try talking to Chad and Uryu... they can still see spirits. Though, Uryu doesn't like shingami."

It was then that the two males, Mizuiro and Keigo climbed up the stairs. Keigo had a rather disappointed look on his face. "We knew we would find you two up here! It's the guys spot!"

"Yeah... the girls wouldn't invite us to eat with them," Keigo muttered. "They even took over Rukia-chan. I thought since she normally eats with Ichigo, we'd be able to eat with her too."

"So says the person who says they are glad that we no longer have to deal with the shingami... or were saying that," the shorter of the two males smirked.

"Look, I'm going to bag out on lunch and go take a nap in the classroom," Ichigo stated, heading down the stairs. Toshiro opened his mouth to protest, only to receive a rather negative look from the teenager.

Keigo suddenly wrapped his arms around Hitsugaya's shoulders, causing the young shingami to tense up. "Guess us three are eating lunch together.

"Yes. Asano's paying."


	13. Eel Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro finds himself disappointed in Ichigo yet can't quite put his finger on why he feels so disappointed.

Heading back to the class, Toshiro felt a major sting of irritation. He slipped into the classroom, wondering when the class, which was boring him, would in fact be over. He also wanted a Hollow to show up, but when it did, he found Uryu hurrying out of the class to take care of it. Hinamori of course turned to glare at him when this happened.

" _I never thought that Kurosaki would act this way_ ," the small taicho thought to himself.

" _No one is perfect, you yourself should know this_ ," Hyorinmaru hummed, his voice roaring

" _But..._ " Toshiro found himself glancing over at Ichigo at this, then looking away, his face becoming rather miffed. " _He's running away from his family. He's upsetting Karin, not letting her be able to talk to him. I thought he was someone who you could easily talk to if need be, easily listening._ "

" _Sometimes, hurt can cause people to react in ways they wouldn't normally act_ ," the dragon stated.

" _To the point he now hates us?_ " the young shingami thought, tapping his pencil against the desk. Matsumoto and Rukia seemed to be doing other things, while Hinamori simply remained prim and proper, staying in character of being a perfect student, though he had a feeling she would have some curt words for him when they got back.

The bell rang, and the small taicho saw the substitute shingami take off. He again tried to keep up with the substitute shingami, heading towards the gate. "Kurosaki!"

At that, Ichigo paused, letting him catch up. "You're really going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?"

"You've been brushing me off all day," the boy stated firmly, his face twisting up into a scowl.

"Toshiro... I told you, we live in two different worlds," Ichigo stated firmly.

"It's Hitsugaya Taicho..." the boy snapped out, his eyes flashing with anger. "Do you really think that you are the only one effected by the fact that you lost your powers?"

"Considering that everyone else is acting like nothing happened, like things are normal," Ichigo began walking forward again.

"Did you really expect us to come see you, when we know that you wouldn't see us and you would just look past us, as if we didn't exist," Toshiro snapped out again.

"Toshiro... what exactly is your problem? You can't expect people to know what you want from them, unless you do in fact say something to them." Ichigo turned his head back around after looking for a few seconds at the boy.

"You should take your own advice about telling people what your problem is," the boy stated. "Other wise you are just a hypocrite."

This time, when Ichigo turned to look at the young shingami, his eyes went wide, his shock evident. He opened his mouth to say something, but a van suddenly pulled up in front of the school. "Shit..."

"You know that van? You got into some kind of trouble, didn't you?" Hitsugaya let out an exasperated sound.

A woman got out of the van, then marched her way up. "Ichigo-chan! You're late for work!" The woman's voice was sickly sweet. Toshiro paused for a bit, completely taken off guard. The woman marched forward, making it clear she meant business. The small boy's jaw drop.

"Look..." the ex substitute shingami spook up, only to have the woman hit him behind the neck, then grab the teenager.

"I've told you time and time again, not to skip out on work," the woman stated, dragging Ichigo over and tossing him into the van.

"Wait..." Hitsugaya blinked a couple of times, not at all sure what was happening. However, when she got into the van, instinct kicked in, and he hurried to grab onto the ladder on the back of the van. He felt himself almost lurched off as the woman took off. Holding on in truth wasn't an easy thing to do, not to mention he heard a few horns honking.

" _What happened to not getting mixed up into the matters dealing with the living world?_ " his dragon asked, his eyes roaring loud, almost laughing.

" _Shut up. I don't get how he could get into this kind of trouble. I thought he had more sense then this._ " the boy stated, his arms hurting from hanging onto the ladder. He was glad when the van pulled to a stop. He remained hanging on, his limbs feeling like rubber. He heard the woman open her door, then go around front and open the side door, hauling Ichigo out.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Ichigo protested as the woman hauled him into the building. Toshiro popped his head around, his eyes catching a glimpse of the two going through the door. Kurosaki was definitely tied up, duct taped so that he could struggle. That was likely why the small taicho had time to grab onto the van ladder.

After they had gone in, he let go, only to find himself falling on his but. He then went to the door, his eye catching site of the sign. He felt a bristling feeling going down his spine upon reading it. " _Kurosaki got caught up by a loan shark or something like that?_ "

He grabbed a hold of the doorknob and pulled it open, just in time to see the Kurosaki on the couch, tied and taped up. He slipped in, and walked over to the teenager, beginning to pull off the tape. Ichigo's mouth twitched, then he finally spoke up. "Toshiro, what the hell are you doing here?"

"She was kidnapping you right?" the small shingami stated, pulling on the tape.

"Toshiro, she's my boss," the boy stated, which caused the white haired child to pause, his teal eyes going wide at the ex substitute shingami.

"She's a..." the boy muttered. However, he simply backed off a bit. "You mean to tell me that you work for the mafia?"

"Mafia? Where the hell did you get that idea from?" Kurosaki's eyebrow suddenly twitched.

"It says the shop will do anything and has the title of eel," the boy stated, rather perplexed. However, to his utter surprise, the orange haired teen began to laugh unmercifully at him.

"God... I thought the customers were bad!" the teenager toppled off the couch as his laughter tipped him over.

"Kurosaki..." Toshiro watched him carefully. "You've been earning money through contracting out to high school sports. It wouldn't surprise me that you would have stooped so low as to work with the mafia."

"Toshiro... you... this isn't the mob," Ichigo stated firmly, just in time for the door to open and the woman to step out, sweeping off an apron and pulling a hat onto her head and gloves.

"What's this about the shop being mafia? What kind of stupid are you trying to pull this time Kurosaki?" the woman stated.

"He thought that because of the sign on the front of the shop. I've told you, you need to change the name," the orange haired teen piped up.

"I've told you it's always been the family name," the woman stated firmly. "Stop cracking lewd jokes."

"But if it is a family name, that means it is definitively mafia, right?" Toshiro muttered, then glared at Ichigo. "You ass hole. You get messed up with some pretty stupid things."

"Excuse me... that is some pretty weird thinking. And no... this isn't a mafia thing. We do menial labor for hire, whatever the customer wants. Of course, if someone wants a hit, I'll seriously think about it. Actually, I wouldn't do a hit because that is bad for business. Information and stuff, completely different matter. Wait..." the woman paused.

"What..." Toshiro's two teal eyes narrowed.

"I am quite sure that you were at the school when I picked up Ichigo for work. How did you get here so fast?" the woman asked.

"I grabbed your van ladder. I honestly thought that you were kidnapping him," the boy stated, his mouth creasing into a frown.

"She did Toshiro. I _quit_ this job yesterday," the young man stated firmly.

"Just shut up. You're a lot of trouble," she then went and bent down so she was eye level with the small shingami. "You could have seriously gotten hurt by doing that," the woman smiled. "How old are you?"

"None of your business," Toshiro stated. The door suddenly opened and a small face peeked through, which caused the woman to switch back ot the apron and ponytail look.

"Ahh... sweetie!" the woman crooned to the small child. "Kaoru-chan want?"

"I'm thirsty the," the boy stated, then stuck his tongue out at the two boys. "Why'd Ichigo have to bring his stupid friends. You can't have my mom, just because she's pretty."

"I'll be right back. Please sort things out with your little brother," the woman stated firmly, then headed back through the door.

"Kurosaki," the small taicho began to untie the teenager. "What the hell have you been doing this past year?"

"What I've been doing doesn't matter," Ichigo sighed. "I've simply been trying to get out from under my dad's thumb, living day to day. Seriously though, what is your problem. You make it seem like I've hurt you are something. Thing is, I never hit you, I've never made fun of you. Yet you're acting like I have."

"You act like we don't matter, to the point you evade every question. It isn't as if you are avoiding answering, it is as if you simply are avoiding the fact that we actually exist." Toshiro stated, his face twisting up. "I also _never_ expected you to go so low as to contract out. You're pissed off with your family. I never thought you would not take the time to listen to your sister."

"What do you know about my two sisters?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"I know Karin can see spirits, to the level of seeing shingami. I also know she's just as pissed off at the world as you are," the boy stated.

'You called her by her first name," the boy garnered a look of interest.

"Now you take interest in what I have to say?" Hitsugaya protested, folding his arms across his chest.

"The thing is, listening involves not just listening, but someone speaking up," the teen stated firmly. "Before you come down on me about not listening to Karin, she hasn't said anything, except to lose her temper and then storm off. I can't do anything unless she steps forward."

"That to me seems as if you're just trying to avoid the subject." Toshiro persisted.

"Much like you're avoiding the fact that you're pissed off that I didn't live up to your expectations of myself," Ichigo's face turned stern. "My question is, why do you even have a high opinion of me in the first place? I'll say what I've been saying to you, we live in two different worlds. Maybe when I could see spirits, it was different, but now I can't."

The small taicho glanced at the ground, his arms hanging limp. "So, when your powers went away, all the memories mean nothing?"

"No... that's not what I meant," Kurosaki's eyes went wide.

"That is though, what you've been saying, the way you've been treating me since I showed myself in front of you. Do you know how much I hoped that you had regained your powers?" the boy snapped out. "I hated that you had lost them! Hell, I still don't understand why it had to be you to lose them!"

"That's just the way life is," the teenager stated. "You're still not telling me, why you think so highly of me. You're always ragging on me to call you by your proper title, Hitsugaya." At that, the white haired youth's face twisted up, garnishing a rather hurt look. Ichigo though glanced away. "See. That is the problem with Karin."

"The Kurosaki I knew would have pushed until he got the answers," Toshiro stated, suddenly turning to the door to leave. He paused however at the door. "No matter how many times I protest, keep treating me the same way you always have."

This caused the substitute shingami to blink a couple of times, only to have his boss come out and hit him over the head. "I need you to get to work."

"All right, all right."


	14. Classic Ire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo underestimates Toshiro, still seeing him as the small child she used to pat the head of before heading off to the academy.

"You're still a child!" Hinamori snapped out at the small taicho, her irritation with him growing.

At that, he turned away from her, completely avoiding looking her in the eye. "I got that. I am heading to the classroom. We might find something out from the others."

At that, Momo found herself rather taken aback, then glanced at the ground, realizing that she had likely said something wrong. Problem was, they hadn't been communicating well with each other for some time. She found the orange haired girl breaking her train of thought. "Why don't I introduce you to the homeroom teacher?"

"Ahh... yes," Momo stated, blinking a couple of times. She glanced at Rukia, somewhat in an attempt to get a rescue from the other female shingami there. The situation to her was not a comfortable one, as it broke everything that she had been taught, not believing in associating with the living world, yet here they were, doing just that.

Rukia though had yet to come. "If you're looking for Rukia, she'll likely walk to school with Ichigo. They always do that... or did that." Orihime confirmed, much to Hinamori's dismay. She then felt the busty girl grab her arm and drag her to the teachers room. Meeting the woman was exasperating to say the least, not to mention she came across awkward that way.

However, it became even more uncomfortable when Orihime headed off to class and she was left on her own. Particularly when she was left outside the room, reminding her of her first day of class, when she had gotten locked out of class for being late. " _That would have been Toshiro's fault. I told him I didn't want to be late. He's always causing awkward situations._ "

She then found herself introduced to the classroom. Quite a few of the students, a small group glanced up at her. Shock was evident that she was there, and it seemed as if they knew she was a shingami, which to her was troublesome. Yet this seemed to brush over Rukia, Rangiku and Toshiro. Particularly Toshiro.

She felt the room drop a temperature and glanced over to see Hitsugaya glaring at one of the other students, which made her want to lecture him. He was acting to warmed up to the rest of the students, which bothered her greatly. There was no point in forming an attachment when they would be leaving soon, never to come back.

Yet there he was, acting as if he had become attached to the people that she could only assume was Ichigo's friends. Nervously, she brushed it aside, as the thought of him forming attachments that would only result in losing friendships hurt. She didn't know exactly why it bothered her, as they both had plenty of friends, but still, that nagging feeling was there.

Boredom ensued, and then the lunch bell rang. She watched as Kurosaki Ichigo got up and leave. Orihime said something to Rukia, something that Momo didn't at all catch, nor did she care to. But she did catch what Hitsugaya said. "You guys ask them, I'm going to go talk to Kurosaki."

"Ask us what?" Tatsuki asked.

"Umm... we received signal of a strange shingami in the area," Hinamori stated.

"Can I ask what your relationship with Hitsugaya is?" one of the males asked, a hand placed on top of his head.

"With..." This question caused Hinamori to pause. "We just... know each other."

"They grew up as brother and sister," Rukia stated.

"Then, possibly..." The male paused, watching as Hinamori's face twisted up in pain. "Well, it isn't as if you two are blood related. Come on Mizuiro. Let's go eat on the roof with Ichigo and Toshiro. You coming Chad?"

"I'm going to talk to the shingami," the big male stated, causing Momo to jump. "Sorry."

"No, it is completely all right," Momo stated, holding a hand to her chest.

"You haven't come before, have you?" A girl with glasses asked.

"No... I wasn't well the last time," was the best answer she contrived. "Please... we are looking for information about..."

"Ahh! Orihime, do you have any of those lovely snacks," Rangiku asked, watching as the girl pulled out a large bento box.

"Because Ran-chan was going to be here, I made lots!" the girl beamed.

"As for your question about shingami, Ichigo's sister..." Tatsuki made a face as if she saw something, then spoke up. "They might know something, or they might not. We really haven't seen much activity. In fact, we avoid it."

Hinamori glanced at the ground at that. "This has turned out to be a rather pointless mission."

"You're worried about something," the female stated, folding her arms. "Why did you brush off your relationship with the kid like that?"

"We may have grown up together, but we've kind of grown apart," Momo gave a weak smile at this.

"That wouldn't happen to do with the fact that you are in the same grade as him?" Chizuru asked.

"Don't be silly! They really aren't in high school. They're just pretending.," Orihime piped up, however, her cheerful face changed to one of confusion at the looks Rukia and Matsumoto picked up. "Did I say something wrong."

"Hitsugaya Toshiro and I did in fact go to Soul Reaper academy together. I was in my last year when he joined," Hinamori had a bitterness in her eyes.

"Well, that doesn't seem bad. I mean, he would have graduated later, right?" Uryu commented, suddenly speaking up.

"No. He did the six years in one," Hinamori stated.

"So... he is some kind of genius kid. He's like... around the age of Ichigo's little sisters?" Tatsuki suddenly glanced out the window.

"Yeah, they actually are," Rukia stated.

"I rather hope that Shiro-chan doesn't meet them," Hinamori blurted out.

"Why not?" Chizuru asked.

"Yes... well..." Hinamori held a hand to her mouth.

"She's not comfortable with the idea of us forming attachments to people who are in the living world," Rangiku quickly replied.

"Isn't it a bit late for that though? He' seems to have taken a shine to Ichigo?" Tatsuki stated.

At that, a glint suddenly passed through the girl with glasses eyes. "You mean to tell me we don't just have a guy on guy romance, but also a pedophilic one!"

This caused the short haired female to hit her over the head. "Enough with your perverseness."

Hinamori's face though was paling at what the female had in fact said. "He is... acting differently around Kurosaki then I have ever seen him before."

"Momo-chan... taicho rather thinks of Ichigo as an older brother type of role model, nothing more, nothing less," Matsumoto stated.

At that, the small female was about to say something, but said person came into the classroom. She watched as Uryu pipped up, the Quincy person. "Did Hitsugaya meet up with you?"

"Yes. It isn't as if we had anything to talk about," Ichigo stated firmly, suddenly going to lay his head down on the desk. "I am going to be taking a nap."

Hinamori had been wanting to cry, but her feelings quickly turned to anger. " _Why is it that Toshiro no longer wants to be siblings with me, but wants to with someone else. Hell, this guy is practically ignoring him, avoiding him even. That isn't right._ "

" _I want to light his butt on fire,_ " her zampaktuo called out.

" _That would cause a disturbance_ ," Momo thought inwardly. " _I hate this guy... what is it that Shiro-chan even sees in him_!" She noticed Toshiro come back, her irritation slowly growing, and when Uryu left the room to take care of hollows, she turned to glare at him. " _What the hell has gotten into you!_ "


	15. Without Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Momo doesn't agree with how the mission is being handled, still struggling with how things changed.

Time passed slowly, making Hinamori wonder about the point of the mission if all they were going to do was sit around and wait for something to come to them, rather then finding something that would lead them to the shingami that had been noted. Actually, she wondered why this mission was important enough to warrant shingami of their rank.

The bell rang and much to her dismay, Hitsugaya chased after Ichigo as soon as the boy left. She got up to follow, but Rangiku grabbed her shoulder. "He needs to learn to take care of certain things by himself."

"What are we going to do without him? He's the leader of the group," Momo's face twisted up, almost as if she was waiting for something to happen, but that thing never happened.

"We'll go to Urahara's shop and I'll buy all of us some candy!" Matsumoto winked. "We'll wait for him to get there, as I think he'll have an idea of where we went!"

Orihime walked over to the window, blinking a couple of times. "Who is that with Kurosaki and Toshiro-kun?"

Rukia danced over to the window. "Oh, Ichigo's just getting kidnapped. I am sure that Hitsugaya Taicho can take care of him as he's following."

"Actually... he wasn't being kidnapped," Chad stated.

"What do you mean?" Orihime took a big breath.

"That van is for his job," the big guy stated firmly.

"Oh..." Orihime then gasped. "I've got to get to work too!"

"Work?" Rukia had a rather confused look on her face.

Uryu shook his head, then pushed up his glasses. "Almost everyone of us have an after school job. I don't, but then my college education is paid for already, with a trust fund left by my mother."

"Everyone is moving on then," Rangiku stated, her face faltering.

Momo placed her hands on her hips. "Did you really think otherwise?" However, Rukia and Rangiku had rather gloomy looks on their faces.

"Let's just head to Urahara's," Matsumoto sighed. They headed out of the classroom, then headed to the shop, where things seemed pretty much normal. They stepped inside the room, the walls covered with candy jars and containers.

"Hello!" the pin stripped man called.

"We're conferencing until taicho gets back from dealing with Ichigo!" Rangiku smirked.

"What has he done this time?" Urahara asked. "I barely hear enough from him as it is. Well, his two sisters say things, but the word is next to null."

"He got kidnapped by his boss," Rukia stated. "Does he work for the mafia?"

"Sort of... from what I've heard," the man laughed. He then saw Hinamori's look of frustration. "Eventually you'll get used to the group her in Karakura Town."

"Why, when we won't be here for very long," the girl stated.

"Come on Hinamori-san. Let's go set and have tea with Urahara. It's one of the things he's good at," Rukia stated.

"Unless I put poison in!" the man stated, suddenly smiling broadly as he fanned himself.

Hinamori found herself paling, but Rangiku pulled her away. "Honestly, pay him no mind." Things remained silent for awhile. But then there was the sound of some young ones at the front.

"Urahara-san, I'm going to the back. I am waiting for someone," came a female voice.

"Oh... really?" the man stated. "Who?"

The female didn't answer, but instead walked into the backroom. There was a frown on her face, but upon seeing the females, she then smiled. "Rukia nee-chan. Matsumoto-san? Is Toshiro here?"

"Taicho is out chasing after your brother," Rangiku smiled.

The middle schoolers face faltered. "What did Ichi-nii do this time?"

"He got kidnapped by his boss!" Rukia bubbled out. She then pulled out a sketch pad and drew a picture. "See!"

"Yeah. Nice picture," the girl stated, sitting down at the small table. "I pity Toshiro, having to deal with him." She then made a bow to Hinamori. "My name is Kurosaki Karin. I am my dorky older brother's sister. But if you've met him, you already know that."

"You call Hitsugaya Taicho by his first name?" Momo asked, glancing at the ground, there was an evident bit of hurt on her face.

"He's never objected. Is there something wrong with that?" Karin asked, scratching the back of her head, making her tomboy attitude show through.

"No. Nothing is wrong with that if he doesn't protest. He just normally does protest though," the female stated.

"Toshiro was nice and helped me and some friends of mine out... a few years ago," the small female placed her hands on the table. Something in the female's eyes bothered her, however, the female spoke up.

"I am Hinamori Momo, fukutaicho of the fifth division," the female stated. "One of the girls in your brother's class said we should ask you about the shingami ability we came to look into. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that?'

"I... actually, Toshiro wanted to talk to me about that," Karin remained still. "He stopped by my school this morning to ask me something, but something happened."

"Speaking about that..." Rangiku started, only to be interrupted by Momo.

"He's doing things that aren't right," Hinamori muttered. "I mean, he could have asked you at your house, as he knows where it is, or had one of us go and ask you there."

"I guess..." the small girl glanced at the table. An icy wind came into the room.

"Ahh... Kurosaki-san... you're here. I apologize for making you wait," Toshiro stated as he came into the room. He glanced over, his eyes narrowing at Hinamori.

Rukia caught his glance and then grabbed onto the female's arm. "Let's go and find what is taking the tea so long. We might as well let them know we need more cups. Maybe even help." She then dragged the female away,

"What is her problem?" Karin's voice wasn't at all angry for once, more along the lines of tiered.

"Excuse me?' Toshiro bristled and the icy feeling came into the room. Rangiku shivered a it, but noticed Karin didn't at all.

"I get the impression she doesn't like me, but I can't figure out for what reason why," the small female rubbed her eyes. "It's been a long day." She then paused for a few seconds. "She doesn't know I am the shingami, does she? You don't think that she suspects something? And why aren't you telling her?"

"Hinamori is..." Toshiro paused, tapping his fingers on the table. "She isn't used to the idea of interacting with living people and not erasing her memories. She's likely to turn you in, even if I gave an order not to. Actually, if I gave an order right now about that, she'd likely look down on it."

Karin opened her mouth to ask why, but then thought best not to do so. The two teal eyes had that far away look from when he had watched the sunset ever so long ago. "You asked me how I came by my brother's shingami badge? I got it from a man called Yamada Seinosuke. He scared me really." The girl placed her hands at the side.

"Yamada... there is something familiar about that name," Rangiku tapped her finger on her chin.

"Well, I know they weren't a person who was a part of our division while I was in it," Toshiro stated, pulling up one of his legs. "I don't know many others from the other divisions. The other captain and fukutaicho... plus a few first names of shingami around my age... but I don't know their last names simply because I rarely interact with them, simply have heard Kurosaki call them by their first."

"You don't hang out with shingami your age?" Karin asked, rather surprised as Tessai came in with a tray for tea, followed by Momo and Rukia.

"Hitsugaya Taicho thinks that he's too old for such childish things," Hinamori stated, coming in and sitting on the ground y the table. Tessai poured each a cup of tea.

"Hinamori! Toshiro snapped out the words, irritation written all over his face. "There you go again!"

"What do you mean going there again?" the girl snapped out. Both glared at each other, neither one backing down.

Karin leaned over and whispered into Matsumoto's ear. "Is this why he said she would look down on his orders?"

At that, Rangiku leaned over. "Actually, yes. Hey, can I ask if you're going to be in the soccer club at your new school?"

Karin bulked at that, then hung her head down. "No..."

"But you like soccer!" Matsumoto spoke allowed. "I don't see why you would not be in the soccer club."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with what happened this morning?" Toshiro's eyes had a rather dark look to them."

"My name is scratched out, I wish to leave it at that," the small girl stated.

"They scratched it out, didn't they?" the boy asked.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro..." Hinamori snapped out. "You shouldn't mess around with the people in the living world."

"Someone should have told him that this morning... it caused nothing but trouble," Karin stated, suddenly standing up. "I need to get going, lest Yuzu begins to worry." The female got up and then headed out of the room.

Momo's eyes went wide, then she turned on the small taicho. "What did you do!"

"I..." the small male shingami winced as she became more and more angry. "I would rather not say."

"What has gotten into you!" Hinamori stated. "You helped her with something with her friends. You let her call you by your first name. You did something really stupid. You're acting like..." Hinamori's face pales suddenly, as some sort of realization came to her. " _Shiro-chan..._ "

"Oi..." Toshiro drew back, hearing the nickname he dreaded in such a tone. "What did I do this time?"

"You are most definitely not old enough to be dating," Momo blurted out. "So don't you _dare_ think about it."

"Where the hell did that come from!" Toshiro felt his cheeks fluster up.


	16. Backwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro and Momo get into an argument stemming from the unresolved tensions.

Upon hearing the nickname that told him rather quickly that Hinamori still thought of him as a child, Toshiro felt his eyebrow twitch. His feelings weren't of anger though, as he had heard clearly the anger in Momo's voice. His feelings were more of shock, and guilt, among other things. "Oi... what did I do this time?"

Momo's face twisted up with frustration, and she slammed her hands down onto the table. "You are most definitely not old enough to be dating. So don't you dare think about it."

Hitsugaya didn't know how she was able to keep from yelling at him, but he couldn't control it, his shock at having such a thing come up. "Where the hell did that come from!"

"I am not blind to the fact that you've been acting rather strange of late, ever since we've come on this mission. However, the times you act the most strange happens to be when you are around Karin, or talk about her!" Momo's voice finally came to the yelling point.

"You've barely seen us together! How can you actually judge something like that!" Toshiro's teal eyes though caught site of Rangiku and Rukia giving each other what seemed to be rather knowing looks. "You guys think that too, don't you? No... I know Rangiku thinks that, as she's brought it up a few times, over the past year."

"It's kind of obvious," Momo snapped out, folding her arms across her chest.

"Not to me, and I am the one whose supposed to have these feelings you say that I have. That makes no sense at all," the boy glared at them. "I think I would be the first to know if I liked someone or not." At that he held up a hand, shaking his head as he did so. "I am not going to listen to this. I have better things to do. I am going out on patrol."

At that, he stood up and left the room. He almost stormed out of the place, but choose to change out of his school uniform as it would look weird to have a student constantly in uniform being seen. He could hear the girls still talking in the other room, but he didn't want to know what was being said. He left his uniform in a bundle so he could pick it up later.

As he walked, he felt for hollows around him, but then he suddenly paused, realizing that somehow he had ended up outside the Kurosaki twins school. At that, he walked into the place, the sun setting indicating that most of the students and teachers would be gone, unless they had come back to get something. Something crossed his mind. Karin had said that her name had been scratched out.

At that, he stuck his hands into his pockets and walked towards the entrance. He got in there, then removed his shoes, picking up the pair to carry with him so that he could respect custom. He walked down the hallways, looking for something specific. He quickly found the board that he was looking for and stopped to look at it.

"Karin wouldn't ever cross out her name for something she likes so much, not unless she was bullied to do so," the boy stated. He then read the names right underneath, memorizing them in his head. He then glanced at Karin's writing on the line that had been crossed out, looking at the direction and size of everything very carefully.

"Toshiro?" a male voice stated from behind him. "What are you doing here?"

At that, the boy glanced up. "You're one of Karin's friends, aren't you?"

The boy spoke up. "My name is Toba Ryohei. You wouldn't happen to be thinking of joining the soccer club?"

"Why?" Hitsugaya gave him a confused look.

"I thought you liked soccer, that's all," the boy stated firmly. "If you aren't here, then why are you."

"Someone I know asked Karin if she was going to be in the soccer club, and she told us she wasn't going to be. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that? I don't think she would scratch out the name herself," the boy stated, still taking in the look of the name.

"She wouldn't. I mean, what I said to her would make her want to join even more," Ryohei stated, watching Toshiro carefully.

"What did you say to her?" Hitsugaya turned his head towards him, his teal eyes glaring deeply.

"I told her we couldn't play soccer as a group anymore," the boy stated, shuffling his feet. "It has to do with the fact that she is a girl?"

"Why though," Toshiro suddenly gave him a confused look.

"Why what?" Ryohei had a rather shocked look on his face.

"Why would her being a girl be a problem?" Hitsugaya stated.

"You don't know?" Toba's eyes widened.

"No, I don't know what the problem is at all," Toshiro then picked up the pencil tied to the board and began to erase the entire line where Karin had written her name, and the line that had scratched it out.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ryohei shook his head.

"I'm rewriting Karin's name. I have a good idea that she wasn't the one who crossed it out," Hitsugaya stated, suddenly using the pencil to rewrite the name.

"I think people will be able to tell it isn't Karin's hand writing," the boy sighed.

"Really?" Toshiro had a rather odd look, his eyes narrowing.

The other boy leaned close. "Hey... that actually looks like her hand writing."

"I still don't get why her being a girl is a big deal," Toshiro reached up and began to scratch his head. He glanced over to see the boy suddenly, only to see the other young male give him a confused look. "What?"

"May I ask you something?" Tobo had a rather nervous sound to his voice.

"What?" Toshiro had a rather irritated look on his face.

"Are you gay?" the boy asked, his entire body becoming nervous.

"Huh? Why would you ask that?" Hitsugaya shook his head. His eyes widened, looking more innocent then normally seen.

"Because you didn't have a single clue as to why it isn't cool for a bunch of guys to play soccer with a girl!" the boy snapped out.

"I don't get how those things are connected, but for your information, I am not gay," Toshiro stated. "I still would like to know what the big deal is. But whatever the case is, you owe Karin an apology."

"So the other guys told me," the boy stated, glancing to the side.

"Then they don't understand the reason why playing with a girl is bad then?" came the rather odd reply.

"No, they understood exactly what I was getting at when I explained it," Tobo glanced away. "But they said that we'd been playing with Karin too long for it to matter."

"For what to matter?" Toshiro blinked a couple of times.

"Have you seen Karin in her uniform?" the boy asked. "I would think that you likely have."

"What of it?" there was a major amount of confusion on his face

"You haven't noticed that she actually looks like a girl now, have you?" Ryohei commented, watching Toshiro carefully.

Hitsugaya's eyes narrowed. "How can she look like a girl now, when she looked like a girl before? Do you know how much your sentence doesn't make any sense at all."

"Are you daft or something! I saw Karin in a uniform the other day and noticed that she had boobs, all right!" the boy spluttered out. His face was angry, but then he noticed Toshiro's face twist up.

At first, it was pale, and then his cheeks began to fluster up. "You said..."

"I know what I said... what of it," the boy stated, suddenly leaning against the far wall, watching with interest the emotional state of the other boy's face, which normally was a blank slate.

"You said... that you noticed... that Karin... that Kurosaki-san... that she has..." Toshiro paused, his eyes darting to the ground, his cheeks suddenly flushing at the word.

"What, you can't say the word boobs?" Tobo crossed his arms in amusement.

"Shut up!" Hitsugaya snapped out.

"Boobies... you can't talk about boobies! That is hysterical!" The boy was suddenly roaring with laughter.

"It's not funny," Toshiro muttered. "And what does that have to do with not letting a girl play games with you."

"Don't you know that girls normally play with girls and guys normally play with guys," the boy laughed, still chuckling.

"That's it? That's pretty stupid," Hitsugaya stated.

"Why?" the boy stated.

"Because most of the girls I know could kick all four of your guys buts," came the rather blunt reply. "They already hold their own among a good deal of the males I know. Actually, males are complete idiots."

"You're a male," Tobo shook his head in disbelief.

"Myself included at times," Toshiro stated, sticking his hands into his pockets. His face had returned to normal.

"I still think that you not being able to say boobs, boobies is rather funny," the teen laughed, holding is sides. He paused though. "You aren't getting flustered this time though."

"What of it?" the snapped out.

"I can't believe it," the boy's eyes widened in surprise. He then got a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. "Yuzu has a chest on her too."

"So?" Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, wondering where this was going.

"I think Karin's chest will be bigger," Tobo stated, his face remaining calm.

However, Toshiro's face in fact flushed back up. "What the hell are you doing talking about... about..."

"I was right! God! I was right!" The boy laughed out.

"Right about what?" Hitsugaya felt his reiatsu flare out a little bit, his face flustering. "What do you know?"

"You have a crush on Kurosaki Karin and you have it bad!" the boy roared out, laughing rather hard.

At that, Toshiro felt his anger suddenly rising. His fist suddenly went flying out into the wall, smashing right next to the other boy's head. "Oi... I am sick and tiered of people telling me I have... feelings for her."

Tobo at first flinched, nearly cowering, but then spoke up. "If I'm not the first person to say something, chances are, I am possibly right."

"Do you really want me to smash your face?" Toshiro muttered, but instead simply stormed away, leaving the boy to collapse to the ground. His anger was pretty heavy now.


	17. Yamada Seinosuke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro himself encounters Yamada Seinosuke.

The small shingami moved away from the middle school, frustration racking his entire body. As he did so, he found himself pausing as he felt a pair of eyes watching him. However, he shook off the feeling and continued to walk his way back to Urahara's shop. However, he felt a blast of reiatsu coming from near by, one that he did not out right recognize.

At that, he popped a soul candy, gave orders to his gigai, then ran up the side of the building using flash step. He jumped up on the top in time to see a man standing there, his arms crosses, smirking at him, as if there was something that he wanted from the small taicho. Toshiro felt his spine bristle at seeing the man. Something wasn't right.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I wonder if the Kurosaki girl has told you my name?" the man asked.

"Karin..." Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "You're Yamada Seinosuke aren't you?"

"Good guess. I guess you are the child genius that people say you are," the man started to clap his hands. "I wonder though..."

"You wonder what?" Hitsugaya felt his ire began to rise.

"How would you react if I were to tell you I was after Karin for some reason or another," the man stated. "That I had plans to use her?"

A small hand reached up and grasped onto the hilt. Toshiro's words came out with spittle attached. "I already knew you were planning on using her, and I won't let you."

"You won't let me?" the young man narrowed his eyes. "Do you even know how much power I have? I mean, I've kept my reiatsu hidden from you. I guess you aren't as smart as they say you are."

"Shut up! I won't let you hurt her!" the white haired boy snapped out, clouds gathering above. Snow also began to fall.

The man let out a sigh. "I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea right now to let you know exactly how powerful I am." At that, he released his reiatsu, a strong one that chocked at Hitsugaya's throat. It wasn't so much that the man was more powerful, but that he was directing it right at the young shingami full force, focusing it onto the boy.

At that, the tenth division captain drew his blade, quick and fast, However, the man was quicker, flash stepping over to the small taicho. "There is a very good reason why there are only a few old timers in among the captaincy. Most of the newbie captains fall to their idiosyncrasy and naivety, both of which you have great amounts of."

The next thing Hitsugaya knew, his right hand was being grasped hard and fast so that he couldn't at all move. He tried reaching his two feet up to kick lose from the man, but found the man to have wrenched Hyorinmaru from his hand and fling it in the opposite direction that he was pushing away from. The man though, let go of his wrist once this was accomplished.

The boy taicho made a move to shunpoo after the blade, only to have the man shout out "Bakudo number sixty-three, Sajo Sabaku." The next thing Hitsugaya Toshiro knew, he was being wrapped in a glowing chain, causing him to smash into the ground. This caused him to struggle against the bonds, trying to free himself.

The man walked over. "Don't you know that above level sixty... well, you should know..." The man walked over, as Hitsugaya switched to the task of trying to freeze the bond over. "I don't think so." At that, he swung his leg out, catching the boy in the stomach, sending him flying far and into some sort of barrier.

He felt saliva dribble from his mouth from the impact, not to mention they slipped down his throat, choking him. His eyes happened to go wide from the shock. He tried sitting up, only to have a blow lobbed at his head, causing him to go crashing down. He coughed out, desperately trying to breath. His reiatsu was also escaping rather fast.

The next thing he knew, he had a fist slam up into his chest, under hooking him. More spittle came from his mouth, falling onto the man's arm. He reached up finally, the chains freezing, allowing him to manage to break lose. He collapsed to the ground onto his back, then back peddled, his hand suddenly reaching his zampaktuo hilt.

He could feel slobber mixed with blood running from the side of his mouth, which he reached up one sleeve to brush it away. "Are you trying to prove to me I can't protect her, because I will die before I let you touch her or anyone else."

"Except I don't want you to die," the man stated firmly, drawing his zampaktuo. "That actually goes against my plan." He then dove forward, his zampaktuo clashing with Hitsugaya's, the aim towards his left torso area.

He then spun the sword and striked again, faster, the blade crashing with the ice zampaktuo. His leg suddenly kicked out, knocking the legs from under the small child and sending him sprawling, hitting the ground hard. He then dropped down onto the boy, pinning his arms to his side. He tried moving his zampaktuo, but found him not able to move.

Narrowing his eyes, he then choose to speak. "Sit upon..." However, a hand suddenly reached down, cutting off the air to his throat.

"As I said, I don't want you dead, so none of my attacks are meant to kill you. They are simply meant to make it harder for you to battle," the man stated, loosening the grip on the airway, listening to the rough coughing that occurred. He then took both hands and slipped the haori off the boy's shoulders. "I need this, and I need it undamaged."

At that, the man threw the zampaktuo away again, then yanked the haori off completely. Toshiro made to go after his zampaktuo again, but felt himself thrown backwards, a blast of reiatsu thrown at him by the man, and then he was pushed to the floor, the man on top of him again. "You are a pain, aren't you?"

The man then drew out his zampaktuo, the blade slightly shorter then the norm. He then pushed the blade into the boy's shoulder, jamming it down multiple times, then twisting it on the final one. He repeated the thing it a few other spots, all of them non-vital spots. The man then pushed his zampaktuo in where the boy's lungs where, causing both to collapse.

The boy gasped out for breath, but it simply didn't work. His eyes suddenly filled with fear. The man had a smirk on his face. "Don't worry... I'm going to make sure you aren't permanently damaged. The man then took the hilt of his zampaktuo and slammed it into the boy's chin, causing his eyes to roll backwards, and the back of his head to hit the pavement. Everything went black.

**~o0o~**

The man watched the small taicho carefully, then got up off the boy, kneeling by his side. The child was at that between age, starting to look like a teenager, but still having some child like features. On top of this, his lips were turning blue from lack of oxygen. His eyes were also half open, glazed over from the level of abuse levied on his body.

The man reached out a hand, healing first one lung, then the other. As the first lung completely healed, there was a gasp for breath. It had a chocking sound, and then the next lung was filled. While the bluish tinge was gone from his lips, his face was extremely pale. His eyes were still glazed over, not at all clearing up.

The male then healed up the other injuries, his hand touching the different spots, completely covering everything, causing the wounds to disappear and go away. Of course he would know how to do all of this, as he had formally been of the forth division. He then checked the pulse and placed a kido on the boy to keep him unconscious.

He then went and grabbed the boy's zampaktuo, choosing to stab it into the ground. He raised an eyebrow as the blade tried to bite him with an icy reiatsu, and even covered a few inches on the ground. He then dragged Hitsugaya over, propping him up against the blade, using the same kido spell that he had used to bind him before.

The boy then was in a rather uncomfortable position, his arms behind his back and the blade, forced into a kneeling position. "I need you to stay here and pass a message onto those in Soul Society." At that, he patted the white head on top of the head. He then took off, taking down first the one barrier, and then the second barrier which was located a block away, allowing for people to come and get the boy.


	18. Icy Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rangiku discusses with Momo the fact Toshiro isn't the little boy she left behind when she entered the academy.

"It's kind of obvious," Hinamori snapped out. Her arms were folded with irritation. " _How can he not notice that his behavior has been off and not usual? I mean, I picked up on it rather quick._ "

She then heard a rush of words from Toshiro. "Not to me, and I am the one whose supposed to have these feelings you say that I have. That makes no sense at all. I think I would be the first to know if I liked someone or not." He then paused long enough to point fingers and stand up. "I am not going to listen to this. I have better things to do. I am going out on patrol."

As soon as he disappeared, Rangiku spoke up. "Hinamori, you really didn't have to push the issue."

Momo turned to her, her cheeks flustered. "I was serious though about the fact that he isn't old enough to be dating."

"I think that Ichigo and his father would agree with you in regard with Karin," Rukia stated, taking a sip of her tea.

"Karin actually looks like she's old enough to be dating," Hinamori muttered, not bothering to pick up her cup.

"Momo... you do know that taicho is now a couple of inches taller then you?" Matsumoto stated. "He's old enough now to start liking girls... though I do agree with the whole idea that he's not ready to be dating. Not when he can't figure out that it is all right to like a girl and that it is completely normal."

"It's not all right for him to like girls!" Momo blurted out, causing Rangiku to spray tea out of her mouth.

"Would you rather he like guys then?" Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"No, I wouldn't," the female stated. However, her facial features softened as she saw the looks they gave her. "He's not old enough to, that's what I'm saying."

"Speaking of dating, has Kira asked you out yet?" the smallest shingami asked, only to have Momo give her a blank look.

"Why would he?" Momo had a blank look on her face. She then turned to Rangiku. "Are we discussing our romances or something like that?"

"I know you two grew up together, but are you sure you guys aren't blood related?" Rukia sighed, leaning against one hand.

"I don't think that is possible. I was born in Soul Society, but all my uncles and aunts act like he isn't part of the family," Hinamori stated.

"This is the first I've heard of this," Rangiku piped up.

"We haven't seen them, either one of us since we joined the academy. They don't visit much. My mother, who is granny's daughter frequently visited," Momo smiled.

"So, you are blood related to taicho's grandmother," Matsumoto asked, her eyes rather wide. Curiosity was written all over her face.

"Yes. I was half my height when I came to live with her. Toshiro was there all ready. He was so cute clutching granny's kimono, hiding behind her. He had the biggest, most curious eyes ever, and when I saw him, I didn't feel so bad that my parents had died, because I now had a little brother to take care of." Hinamori ran a finger over her tea cup. "Except... it's not like that anymore."

"Wait... Momo-chan... how old was taicho when you first met him?" Rangiku asked. However, as Momo opened her mouth, they suddenly felt an icy reiatsu flare out. "It's got to be, what... only a few minutes?"

"Fifteen," Urahara popped his head into the room. "You ladies have been enjoying tea, talking nice and slow. This allows for him to walk to either of the schools Kurosaki goes to... I think it is coming from around the younger girls school."

The three shingami got up, and as they went to leave, Momo paused to ask him something. "Do you think his other sister would know something about the shingami?"

"No. She barely can see and hear spirits. Actually, to her, they are just fuzzy, really fuzzy," the man stated, watching as the three females rushed out. They came close to where the small taicho was, but quickly found a barrier in their way.

"What the hell is going on!" Matsumoto blurted out. Every single one of them could feel the boy's power wavering big time. It was quite a few minutes later, and then the shield went down. All three females hurried to where they had felt the icy reiatsu come from but then all three balked at seeing the boy taicho bound like he was. "Taicho!"

Hinamori hurried over and used kido to reverse the bind, causing him to collapse into Rangiku's arms, completely unconscious. She lifted up his small body, not noticing the blood stain on another part of the roof top. Hinamori pulled out his zampaktuo. Rangiku felt a small tear fall down her cheek. "I'm glad he isn't hurt."

"But where is his haori?" Rukia asked. "And how did this happen without him being hurt."

"I don't know... let's just get him to Urahara's shop," Matsumoto stated, pulling the boy close. She then saw the look in Hinamori's eyes.

"Shiro-chan..." came the rather quiet voice. They arrived at the shop, pin stripes raising an eyebrow at them.

He then opened up the back and led them to a futon. "Put him in here..."

Rangiku lay him down onto the futon rather gently. Momo bent down, worry written all over her face. "I think he would be more comfortable sleeping in in just his nagajuban?"

Matsumoto simply agreed, removing the sandals and the tabi socks, while Momo began to remove the outer wear on his uniform. Rukia headed towards the door, only to hear a small gasp from Hinamori. "What is it?"

Rangiku though had moved over, her hands fingering the blood stained white cloth, and the hole that was obviously there. "But... there is no sign of injury."

"We must have not noticed as the blood blended in with the black," Rukia stated. "Actually, you didn't feel anything wet?"

"I assumed it was him getting too hot... but someone had to have wiped away the blood that was on his arms and lower body, not to mention his face."

"There is nothing staining his tabi socks, or his hair," Momo stated.

"I'm going to call Unohana Taicho. She might be able to make heads or tales of this," Rukia chimed in.

"Gomenasai, Hinamori. As much as I know you want him to be comfortable, I need you to wait until she gets here," Rangiku mummered, pushing back the child's hair.


	19. Stress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karin hides her struggles from Yuzu not wanting to worry his twin sister.

Upon leaving Urahara's shop, Karin simply began to walk home. This day had been more stressful then it had the last ones. She didn't like the way that she was being treated, but she also didn't want to worry her brother. Then again, sometimes she wondered if her brother would even begin to listen, something she had doubts of as of late.

She arrived home and walked up the front path, her hand brushing up against the cool knob, twisting it open so that she could enter the house. Stepping in, she kicked of her shoes, then nudged them so that they were neat. She then stepped into the living room area where she could hear Yuzu working in the kitchen.

She headed for the stairs in an attempt to avoid her twin, however, the other Kurosaki twin stopped making sound and came to confront her. Well, confront was possibly not the right word, as Yuzu wasn't out to get her. She simply always wanted to help, despite the fact that most of the time she simply got in the way. At least though, she didn't make the situation worse.

"Karin?" her sister asked, which caused the female to turn around.

The black haired twin put on her best fake smile. "What's the matter Yuzu?"

"I saw what happened to your desk today. The whole class saw," the girl stated, her hands on her hips. "Something isn't right. I know that someone is being mean to you."

"What are you going to do about it?" Karin asked, watching her sister carefully.

At that, Yuzu puffed out her cheeks. She then came to a conclusion. "I'll tell one of the teachers."

"And what are they going to do? Yuzu, it's my word against their word, and there are more of them then there are me, plus, I don't have the best reputation. The teachers will say I probably brought it on myself," the girl stated.

"Then tell Ichi-nii," the brown haired girl folded her arms across her chest.

"Ichi-nii... he kind of has his own problems right now, remember?" Karin stated, smiling at her sister, this time not a fake one as Yuzu's attitude and determination brought a little bit of cheer back into her life. "Plus, he's working at a full time job."

"Oh yeah... he's abandoning us and planning on moving out," Yuzu pouted, puffing out her cheeks. "What about daddy?"

At that, Karin's face turned into a major scowl. "Yuzu, that's where this all started. They all took notice of me because dad decided to be an idiot at school."

Again, the other twin began to ponder this. "But that isn't nice. I could say something."

"Don't worry about it," Karin waved her hand. "It isn't like they said anything really bad." She watched her sister's face twist up. " _At least what was scribled on the desk wasn't as bad as the letters or what_ _they've said to me privatly to my face._ "

"Not bad?" Yuzu blinked a couple of times. "They wrote that you were a witch on your desk. Why did that happen?"

"Why do you _think_ it happened? You think seeing spirits is a cake walk when it isn't," the girl stated, then turned to head up the stairs. She heard a soft sound of her twin finally getting something, if at all.

She then moved over and crashed onto her bed. Truth of the matter was, if Toshiro _hadn't_ done what he had with the shoelaces, then she wouldn't have had the word witch written in pen on her desk, frustrating the teacher when he saw it. Of course, she also knew he hadn't intended for that to have happened.

As she was thinking about him, she felt an icy rietsu and sat up straight. Her mind was filled with a buzz, something she hadn't felt in a long time, and not because she happened to have felt an over powering rietsu. This was more like another felling she had long forgotten. It was choking, and pressed at her temples.

The vision that sprang into her head was a shadowed figure launching a kick into Hitsugaya Toshiro's stomach. She could feel the pain that he was in from the kick, not to mention the pain he felt when h crashed into something, she wasn't sure what. All she knew was that he was fighting someone and she was picking up his emotions.

It wainted for a bit as she clutched onto the sheets, but she found herself wincing as a few more strinkes came into her perview. Except, she couldn't make out who was doing it to him. She just knew that he was hurting, and that something wasn't right. She could feel a great deal of fear rising in her chest and she couldn't breathe well.

She was brought out of it when Yuzu hugged her tightly from behind. "Karin... if the kids bullying you are making you this upset..."

"It wasn't them," the girl sputtered out. "It wasn't them... a friend was in trouble, big trouble."

"What do you mean? We can go help them..." The brown hair made to go to the door, possibly to gather first aid supplies, however, Karin grabbed her arm.

"Yuzu, you can't see this friend," the girl stated firmly.

"But..." Yuzu's face suddenly became down ridden. "Can you do something?"

Karin thought about it for a few minutes. "I don't..." She thought about it carefully, then shook her head. "If something is hurting this friend, I can't help as this friend is a _lot_ stronger then me."

"You aren't going to just leave it as it is," the small female asked.

"I don't know." Karin closed her eyes. "I'm going to call Urahara."

At that, she got up and went to the phone, dialing the number she had come to know very well, but doubt that her brother actually knew in all the time he had been an actual shingami. The phone picked up. "Hello. This is Urahara's shop."

"Urahara-san... I felt Toshiro's reitsu," the girl stated.

"Hold on. I feel them bringing him into the shop. I'll need to get back with you," the man stated, then hung up the phone. After a few minutes, he called back. "He's safe. I think for now it will be best to leave it at that, as we don't know much detail wise yet. I'm sure word will get to you eventually."

At that, the phone clicked of after a quick goodbye. Karin then hung up the phone, while Yuzu looked at her expectidly. "Well?"

"I don't know..."


	20. Unohana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unohana enters in while Momo panics.

Things at the shop remained quiet, despite the fact that worry was abundant. Matsumoto knelt next to the small boy, watching his small chest rise up and down, as Urahara went to the phone. She noticed that it was off the hook, and then hear him speak up. "He's safe. I think for now it will be best to leave it at that, as we don't know much detail wise yet. I'm sure word will get to you eventually."

Hinamori's head perked up as he said goodbye. "You're supposed to be calling Unohana Taicho!"

"Karin-chan knew that young Hitsugaya Taicho was in trouble," the man stated, going and dialing another number. He talked for a few minutes, then walked over at sat down after hanging up the phone. "She'll be here as soon as she can. She's bringing her fukutaicho with her."

Rukia sat to the side. "Karin-chan knew something was going on, and with whom."

"What is so amazing about that?' Momo piped up, her voice filled with confusion. A few tears trickled down her cheeks and then landed on her hand.

"The fact that Ichigo can't tell reiatsu apart worth beans," the female stated, folding her knee up and leaning her hand on it.

"Karin's simply had more time to adjust, I think," the pepper candy striped hat man said, his mood rather dim.

"But why would they hurt him and then heal him up," Rangiku blurted out, the frustration boiling over.

"It is to make it clear the small taicho's life was in that person's hands," Urahara stated, his eyes rather dark and shaded as he tipped the hat down. "Honestly, I can't think of any other reason. I mean... he purposefully removed Hitsugaya Taicho's haori. This is meant to be an insult. Question is, is it meant for Soul Society, or someone else?"

'Who else? Ichigo?" Hinamori blurted out. "What is with this guy! Why'd he have to make Shiro-chan... I mean, Hitsugaya Taicho's life miserable."

"That isn't true," Rangiku piped up. "I think taicho feels better off having met Kurosaki."

"I am going to have to agree with that," Rukia sighed, glancing towards the door, hoping that the gate would open up soon. "Many of us wouldn't know what life would be like if Ichigo hadn't come into it. He's a part of it, for both good and bad, just like we were once a part of his life. He actually thought us being a part of it was a good thing... and now that's gone."

It was then that the gate suddenly appeared. It opened up with the loud clicking sound that was rather musical. Unohana and Isane stepped out. "Isane?"

"Hai!" the female stated, heading over to the small taicho.

The forth division taicho walked over. "Do you have any idea who could have done this? I also think that everyone but Rangiku should leave, giving Hitsugaya Taicho some privacy."

Hinamori gave a rather upset look, but Rukia managed to pull her from the room. Rangiku spoke up. "Karin-chan mentioned someone, some name... but... taicho is better at remembering these kinds of things."

"Most certainly," the female stated, a bundle of cloth in her arms. "I couldn't get him a new haori, but I did get the rest of his uniform fresh. Not to mention I brought some sleeping clothes."

"Arigato!" Matsumoto chimed out, a smile coming to her face.

Isane meanwhile, placed her hands on the small taicho's chest, getting a feel of the healing done. "He had both lungs collapsed. That's something that needs to be healed on the spot" However, her face suddenly twisted up, shock rather evident.

"Is something the matter?" Unohana stated firmly.

"Senosuke-kun's reiatsu!" the girl burst out. "He's the one who healed Hitsugaya Taicho. But... he's supposed to be dead!"

At this, Unohana frowned, but Matsumoto perked up. "I remember now. Karin said that his name was Yamada Seinosuke! There was something familiar about his last name!"

"That would be due to the fact that he is Hanataro's older brother," the female stated.

Isane turned to her, a look of desperation on her face. "May I have permission to go looking for him?"

"After we figure out what damage he's done and what he's fixed," the female taicho stated, then closed her eyes. "No... I'll finish here. Go... I completely understand."

At that, the female stood up and took off out of the room, pushing the door open, and then shutting it again. Unohana then went and sat down next to the boy. Matsumoto then spoke up. "May I ask what is going on? Taicho was involved."

"Seinosuke and Hanataro are my grandsons, as are those of the Shiba clan. My daughters married into the families," the female stated, carefully using the kido, then after a few minutes going and removing the clothing and carefully redressing the boy. She then placed him under the futon covers, letting the the top drop.

Matsumoto remained silent for a bit of time. "So my taicho is related to them? I mean... not the taicho here, but our former taicho?"

"You mean Shiba Isshin?" Unohana stated. "Yes. Both had some bit of training under me, for the simple reason that they were the eldest. Kaien went a different path then his brother. There is a lot of sadness with both families."

"You mean with your family," Matsumoto sighed. "Urahara said that there is a chance that this may not be directed at Soul Society, but it was meant to be a threat to someone else. That they were trying to send someone a message in particular."

"Why did he think it was a message?" the female stated, sitting watch.

"Because the person healed taicho before he took off," Rangiku pushed some of her hair back in frustration.

"I thought that at first, but then when I found out it was Seinosuke, I thought otherwise. Hitsugaya Taicho is around or a couple years younger then his brother in equivalent age," the woman stated, watching the small child's chest rise up and down.

"What all did Urahara tell you?" the busty female asked.

"He simply told me that Hitsugaya Taicho had been healed by the enemy. That was concerning in itself and enough for me to come and examine the child," the woman stated.

"Did he tell you that his haori was missing?" Rangiku stated.

"I assumed that you had already removed it, but were surprised at it not being there," Unohana stated.

"Taicho appeared unharmed to us when we first got there," Rangiku stated.

"Well, with those facts I would have assumed that the person had removed it to keep blood getting on it," the woman stated. "But I think you're trying to tell me it wasn't there at all?"

"Are you sure it isn't a message to someone?" Matsumoto stated, her voice straining from the pain of having someone do this to her small taicho.

"I can't think of anyone who he would hold a grudge against," Unohana stated. "Other then perhaps Soul Society, for the death of their parents."

"Are you sure that there is no one alive?" Rangiku stated, her voice straining. "He really made it sound otherwise."

"The main person he blamed was his own cousin, Shiba Isshin," the female with braids stated firmly.

"Then perhaps the Shiba family?" the busty female asked, pushing.

"Maybe... I would hope not," Unohana muttered. The door though slipped open, allowing her to see Rukia peeking in as well as Hinamori.

"We went away for awhile, but Hinamori wished to see Hitsugaya Taicho," the Kuchiki noble stated. "We figured you would be done by now. What is this about the Shiba family?"

"That this might be directed at them," the woman sighed, giving them a smile.

"So Toshiro got brought into it because his taicho used to be a Shiba!" Hinamori snapped out, bitterness in her voice.

"I don't think that the person instigating this knew there was a tie in to our young taicho and Shiba Isshin." Unohana simply stayed calm.

"There is more then one Shiba?" Rukia frowned.

"I just found out that Unohana's daughters married into the Shiba and Yamada families," Rangiku smiled.

"So... Ganju and Hanataro are related." The small female had a rather floored look on her face.

"That isn't important!" Hinamori blurted out. However, she made a quick bow, staying low to the floor. "Gomenasai, Unohana Taicho!"

"It is all right. I am glad the two get along well together," the female smiled. "I will be needing to contact Yamamoto Taicho. If you don't mind, I'll leave you to watch after the patient here."


	21. Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiyone is rather taken aback by learning a certain someone is alive.

The rather tall shinigami left the room, finding out that Yamada Seinosuke was in fact alive. Truth of the matter was, her feelings were mixed about finding this out. One of the feelings pertained to joy, while another pertained to anger, while yet another pertained to sadness. She in truth didn't know what to say to him if she did in fact find him.

She came to her first thought of the matter, that played into her disbelief. " _The Seinosuke I know wouldn't hurt a child. He happens to have hurt Hitsugaya Taicho._ " That was the thought that came to her mind as she headed towards the highest spot in the entire town, one that would let her have a vantage point.

" _You're only saying that because of the way that you saw him treat Hanataro as a babe and toddler_ ," her zampaktuo argued. It was adamant in trying to push reality on her. Actually, truth of the matter was, it had always been that way, forcing her to remember things that she in fact didn't want to remember. No, remembering it wasn't the issue, thinking about it was.

" _Well... Hitsugaya Taicho isn't a child_ ," her mind fell upon, trying to prove that the young man she had known since childhood hadn't gone and changed. Her mind quickly went through all the times she remembered a certain taicho protesting that things were too childish, or the times he glared at someone because they referred to his size, or the fact that he was a child.

" _You know better then that_ ," her zampaktuo chided.

At this, the female shinigami let out a sigh. " _I know... he's a little one, despite the fact that he protests it._ " She could never deny that Hanataro was still a child, almost gone from that stage. But the small taicho was definitely younger then him, which had always made the younger Yamada child to look after him, even considering the white haired child a friend, despite the fact it didn't seem Hitsugaya returned the favor.

She then began to glance around, looking for someone, somewhere that was close to one of those child hood spots. But nothing came to mind, though she figured this would have been easy if she had been in Soul Society still. It bothered her, as she knelt on the sill edge that something she looked fondly on would be tarnished.

"Well... if it isn't Kotetsu Isane," a voice from behind her came. This caused her to try to stand up, but she then felt a unsheathed zampaktuo pressing at her throat. She then felt the blade push her head backwards into someones chest. This caused her to glance up to see a familiar face, smirking at her. "It is good to see you again."

"You are alive!" the female spoke aloud, her voice tone obviously pained as the truth washed over her.

"Shush..." came his voice, calm and collected. He and Hanataro were alike in every regard except one, confidence. "I am glad to see you, just as much as you are to see me. You need not say it."

"I..." Isane tried to think of a way to get away, something to protest with. However, to her utter surprise, he choose to lock lips with her, kissing her and not stopping. The shock caused her cheeks to suddenly flush, her heart to beat fast, and her body to freeze. However, something told her it was wrong, and her hands pushed him away. "Stop!"

At that point, she was away from him, ready to draw her weapon. He gave her a funny look, like he was disappointed. "Aren't you my fiance?"

"You disappeared... I have the right to move on, don't I?" the female stated, coming to her full height.

"I don't think you would be able to. You were rather miffed when grandmother told you, you were still growing," the young male stated, giving her a dark look, one she had almost never seen on his face. Her stomach hurt seeing it.

"Don't bring my height into this! And what does that have to do with anything!" the female snapped out.

He raised a hand to the side of his head, basically shrugging it off. "As I recollect, the reason you were angry was because you found out that you and I were the same height as each other. You hated the idea of being taller then me. You started eating porridge non-stop."

"Stop it!" The silver haired female snapped out, irritated that he would bring such a thing up.

"Well, what I said was true, wasn't it," the man stated, suddenly shunpooing to her side. His face remained taciturn. "And it seems you now have a half a foot on me." At that, Isane tried turning on him, trying to pull her weapon. However, he quickly moved out of the way. " I thought that the academy taught soul reapers not to lose their cool. It's just like the taicho of the tenth division."

"What about it!" Isane stated. "You do realize that you hurt a child, don't you!"

"A child?" The man gave her a cold look. "While he was wearing the captain's haori and while it was within the vicinity, he was _not_ a child. He is now."

"What kind of talk is that!" Isane spit out, watching him suddenly smirk.

"I''ll tell you what kind of talk that is. I'm going to use the boy, simple as that. And no matter what you say, I did in fact hurt a child. He needed to be taught a lesson, and likely... he'll need to be taught one again." The man folded his arms together loosely, still holding his zampaktuo. "He has a temper on him, doesn't he?"

"Use him! You know all I have to do is tell Unohana Taicho about this!" The fukutaicho of the forth division suddenly had her reiatsu flare up. "You'll have to kill me, if you don't want me to tell."

"I don't care if you tell," the man stated, catching her off guard. "See, all she can do is keep him from moving about. She isn't going to be able to stop his will. You can tell her that too. She knows how stubborn he is, how much he likes to go looking for trouble."

"You don't know anything about Hitsugaya Taicho," Isane yelled.

"Oh, I think I do," the man stated, letting out a laugh.

"Would you have attacked him if you knew Hanataro thinks of him as a friend?" The female was adamant.

"A friend? Does he treat him the same way? Do they hang out with each other?" The man watched her face falter. "See... they aren't friends."

However, her face returned to a stern stubbornness. "Yes, they are friends. Hitsugaya Taicho may not hang out with anyone, but he treats Hanataro with respect and like an equal."

"That isn't being a friend," the man eyed her coldly.

"That is the only way Hitsugaya Taicho knows to show friendship. Through respect, and treating someone like an equal," Isane repeated. "He;s slowly learning, and Hanataro knows that and is patient with him."

The elder Yamada glowered at her. However, he then spoke up. "I thought about taking you out on a date when I saw you. I was thinking I would treat you to fish cakes."

At that, Isane clapped her hands to her mouth, trying not to vomit as the word came to her ears. At that, he suddenly took off, leaving her behind. She tried feeling for his reiatsu after she regained her composure, but he was purposefully trying to hide it. At that, she headed back to the shop, frowning as she came into Unohana's view.

The woman's face twisted up, however, she choose to to say anything. Isane simply followed her into where the small taicho was still unconscious on the futon. "I managed to contact Yamamoto. He is trying to make heads or tails of this whole situation."

"Did Isane find out anything?" Rangiku asked, her eyes showing that the whole ordeal was stressing her out, her bubbly self having melted away.

"I..." At that, the female's face turned red.

Unohana glanced at her, but simply choose not to say anything directly to her. "I think she has run into him."

"I don't understand... I didn't feel a fight?" Hinamori's head popped up, her hand holding onto Toshiro's rather tightly.

"I... uhh..." Isane closed her eyes. "He teased me... he knows I hate... that... and that... and that..." Her eyes glanced at the ground, shame completely covering it.

"On other news, Yamamoto taicho decided to send a few extra to the living world. I am also to be staying here with Isane," the woman stated.

"Aren't you needed back in Soul Society?" Rukia asked.

"I am sure I can leave my division members in their own capable hands," the woman smiled. However, her eyes showed that she wasn't at all happy with the situation and it faded to a frown.


	22. Reinforced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shinigami start planning on how to tackle the person who attacked one of their own.

Unohana Taicho knelt next to the small taicho, watching the child's steady breathing. Hitsugaya had yet to stir, but that was likely a good thing, as that meant he likely wasn't having a nightmare. Rangiku and Hinamori also sat next to the small taicho, opposite of the female taicho. Rukia was in the kitchen helping Isane prepare something for everyone to eat.

Hinamori's hands clutched at the pant leg, her eyes watering slightly from the level of worry she had dealing with the child that lay in front of her. Her thoughts kept drifting to childhood memories, some of when Toshiro had been ill before, other times to when he had spun tops on the front porch, or times he had eaten watermelon.

Her thoughts were broken as she heard a gate appearing in the other room, the doors opening up. Loud noises came as Ikkaku's voice came to them. "I hope to be able to get a nice fight in. I am sure they wouldn't have called us in, unless there were strong enemies."

At the sound of voices, the small taicho began to stir, his face twisting up as if he were having some sort of nightmare that he couldn't escape some. Unohana's eyebrow twitched as she reached down and touched the small taicho's forehead, noting that he had a slight fever. She then stood up. "I'll fix a tea to calm Hitsugaya Taicho's nerves and to reduce his temperature. Rangiku, if you may... will you handle the rabble."

At that, the two older females got up and headed out of the room. Hinamori remained, watching the small body spasm as if in pain. She watched as two teal eyes suddenly opened up half lidded. "Hitsugaya Taicho?" However, her jaw dropped as her eyes suddenly saw the chest of the small child stop moving. In panic, Momo leaned over, listening for a sound of breath. "Shiro-chan?"

The next thing she knew, she was screaming, which caused Ikkaku, Unohana and Rangiku to come hurrying into the room. A few others tried to come in, but Unohana barked a command for them to stay out. Her hands felt for a pulse and then pulled back the the covering and then the clothing so that the small child's chest was uncovered.

Rangiku's eyes were wild. "Taicho... don't do this to me!" She glanced up at Unohana, then leaned over, tilting his head back and pushing air into the boy's lungs. She then began to press down hard onto his chest. As she repeated this, Momo had tears streaming down her cheeks. After a few minutes, the small body gasped out for air.

However, the whole ordeal was in truth not finished. Hitsugaya's body began to contort , his back arching up off the ground. At that point, Ikkaku went and grabbed the small boy's shoulders, holding him down. "What the hell is the matter with him?"

Two small hands began to claw out the arms holding him down, causing the bald headed man to narrow his eyes in irritation. At that point, Isane came hurrying in with a glass of tea, which Unohana quickly took. "Tilt his head up."

Taking a spoon, she dribbled a small bit of the tea into the child's mouth, which caused him to splutter, but also to have the spasms to lessen. Another spoon fool caused the spasming to stop and Matsumoto lifted up her small taicho up so that Unohana could pour the chilled tea down the child's throat. Toshiro's eyes opened up.

As his body trembled, his mouth opened. "What is going on?"

"You were out of it for some time," Unohana stated, pushing the small taicho back to the ground.

"My chest hurts..." Hitsugaya's teal eyes closed shut.

"Shiro-chan! You stopped breathing!" Momo cried out, the tears flowing down her cheeks.

"I'm fine now though..." came the mummered reply.

"Baka! You!" Hinamori snapped her mouth shut, irritation written all over it.

"Hitsugaya Taicho, what do you remember of your attacker?" Unohana asked. She motioned for Rangiku to remove Hinamori from the room. The female followed her out, only to have Momo cast a backwards glance at the small boy.

"Everything is a blur at this point," Toshiro blinked a couple of times. "I happen to remember not being able to breathe, not being able to hold my zampaktuo in my own hand. I remember a great deal of pain." His small hand reached up in front of him, flexing his fingers. "I thought I was a big mess." His eyes caught sight of Isane's face, as it twisted up. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"

"Hitsugaya Taicho, you were attacked b a person named Yamada Seinosuke." The fukutaicho spoke up, just as Matsumoto came back into the room.

Rangiku's face looked at her small taicho. Hitsugaya picked up from her face that something was bothering her. "Matsumoto, what happened to me?"

"Yamada Seinosuke left you alive to make a statement taicho. We found you tied up to your own zampaktuo." The female watched as his face twisted up, a look of horror on his face, not to mention a glint of failure in his eyes.

At that, the small taicho sat up, his mind clicking on something, yet he didn't speak his mind on that. "I've got to get up and start in again... patrolling or something." His hands reached out to the pile that contained his uniform. He blinked a couple of times on seeing that something was missing. "Where is my haori?"

"He took it." Unohana stated. "I apologize for not being able to provide a replacement."

"Yamamoto Taicho... he's going to kill me for losing it," the boy muttered, his teal eyes glancing at the ground.

"You lost it?" Ikkaku let out an amused tone of voice. "I wouldn't call that losing it."

"You... when did you get here?" Toshiro asked, glancing suddenly over his shoulder.

"He is right Hitsugaya Taicho," Unohana spoke up. "Yamamoto already knows about the fact you no longer have your haori. It has a bigger meaning then just you simply having lost it. It was meant to send a very definite message to all of us. "

"Without my haori... my haori is what makes clear my rank to people." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"Come on. Everyone here knows that you are a taicho of the Gotei Thirteen," Ikkaku grumbled. "Not to mention a good deal of us don't think of you as a child."

Toshiro refused to comment and pulled on his uniform, then headed out the door. Isane spoke up. "Hitsugaya Taicho... you should be resting."

"There is too much to..." However, the small taicho found himself stopping short as he ran into Abarai Renji, who was chatting admirably with Yumichika and Hisagi. "...do."

"Where the hell is your haori?" The comment from the fukutaicho of the sixth division caused the small taicho to swallow hard. No answer came out of his mouth. Abarai then spoke up, his tone rather dark. "You lost it, didn't you? Sheesh. Sometimes I wonder about you."

It was then that a door to the side slid open in a flourish and Hinamori stepped out, despite Matsunoto's attempts to stop her. Her arms wrapped around the small taicho. "Shiro-chan didn't lose his haori. Someone took it off of him."

"Hinamori!" The small taicho protested, his voice strained from a dryness, despite having some tea poured down his throat.

"You do realize, having the symbol of your rank taken off of you is a lot worse then having lost it?" Hisagi stated, his face twisting up in confusion.

"Look! I don't remember what happened! All right!" Toshiro found himself twisting out of Momo's touch of affection. "I'll be leaving now, as I have things..."

However, at that very point Unohana came out of the room. "Hitsugaya Taicho, you will be doing no such thing. You are to remain here and get the rest you so despratly need."

Two teal eyes suddenly glanced around, the eyes taking in the different looks on everyone's face. He then spoke up. "I know only to well how much I messed up. I'm going to have to say no."

At that, the small taicho shunpooed out of the room, a breath of cold air touching everyone in the room. Quite a few of the other shingami blinked. Hisagi spoke up. "What exactly happened to him?"

"I won't go into personal details that you do not need to know to succeed at your job. I will tell you that the person we are up against has declared twice, in different ways that he plans on using Hitsugaya Taicho, possibly because of what such a young taicho represents to Soul Society." Unohana stated. "I would appreciate it if you would go and bring him back."


	23. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro struggles with having lost his haori and what it means. His understanding of the meaning clashes with the others understanding.

"You do realize, having the symbol of your rank taken off of you is a lot worse then having lost it?"

For the small taicho, those words stung deeply. Truth of the matter was, Hisagi was right about the fact that this situation was worse. It meant that he had been captured long enough for the enemy to take advantage of him. He had been training for the last few months to become stronger, but the truth turned out that he wasn't' as strong as he needed to be.

This caused him to move away from Hinamori's arms. She never had been able to see that he was no child that needed to be coddled and he was sure that this incident would end up making things worse for him and not just with his awkward relationship with Momo. A good deal of the males overhead the fact that he had been disgraced in battle and he couldn't help but wonder if he could ever face them again.

His words as he squirmed lose were true. His mind had mentally blocked out a good deal of what had happened to him. However, his mind did remember one small detail, that Kurosaki Karin was involved. This caused him to flinch inwardly and he thus spoke up, partially because he wanted to get away from the stares, but another reason was there, both of which were subconscious. "I'll be leaving now, as I have things..."

Toshiro found himself forced to turn his head towards Unohana as she interrupted him. "Hitsugaya Taicho, you will be doing no such thing. You are to remain here and get the rest you so desperately need."

He glanced around at this, easily noting a good deal of the people's faces. There was worry there, as one of the emotions. However, he picked up the fact that Renji was mocking him, smirking at the fact he had yet again messed up. Hisagi likely also thought something similar due to his comment that he had made. And despite Ikkaku's words other wise, he of all people should understand the meaning behind him losing his haori.

"I know only to well how much I messed up. I'm going to have to say no." At that, he headed out of the room, heading for where he could find his gigai.

" _You keep running away from your problems._ " His dragon spoke up in his mind.

" _I am going to ask you to shut up about this Hyorinmaru. I can't face them... not after what has happened._ " At that, Toshiro slid into his gigai, making a quick move of hiding his reiatsu and slipping around corners, hoping that Unohana hadn't moved them to finding him yet. He used the back door, slipping into the alley way, where Jinta and Ururu were sweeping.

"What are you looking at?" Jinta glared at him, pausing him in his work.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Ururu asked.

"It is none of your damn business, either of you." At that, he moved away, into the streets, moving about so that no one who happened to be following would be able to see him. He could still feel all of their reiatsu at the shop, despite the fact that they were also obviously moving away. Frustration couldn't help but abound as he moved silently away.

**M**

Ichigo walked home, rather glad that he had finally maneuvered his way out of his job. All day, he couldn't help but think about the words that Toshiro had said to him. " _It is as if you simply are avoiding the fact that we actually exist._ " What the small taicho had told him, simply bothered him. As he walked along, he heaved up his bag.

"Seriously... I can't forget about everyone that easily." The male stated. He noticed something float by him, then turned his head to see a spirit wafting by. "What the..." However, he let out a sigh, realizing that the spirit was in truth was still fuzzy. "Why is it that I am now gaining back my powers of all times? That makes no sense at all."

"Ichigo!" A rather frantic call came from a familiar voice and he turned to see Rukia waving to him, Abarai Renji standing next to her.

Irritation spreading on his face, he choose to storm over to the two. " _More_ of you have come? Is this mission that big? Or do you guys want to torture me with the fact that I can only see you while you are in your gigai?"

"Well that isn't very nice." Renji scratched his head. "Anyways, I don't care about seeing you. Since Hitsugaya Taicho managed to get into his gigai before running off, we figured we would get you to help look for him."

"Just follow his reiatsu. Seriously, that was one of the reiatsu I easily learned to identify." The teenager grumbled.

"He's hiding it." Rukia stated firmly.

"Look, if Toshiro needs some breathing room, leave him be. Give the kid some time to think." Ichigo's face twisted up in irritation. "That is what this is about, right? I mean, it isn't as if we're having a problem like the last time he hid it where he was wanted by soul society."

At that, the two shinigami turned to look at each other, their faces rather telling that there was a problem at hand. Renji turned towards Ichigo. "No... he hasn't gone and betrayed soul society, but the situation is rather dire."

"And..." Ichigo watched as they simply blinked at him.

"Look, if you don't want to help, then so be it." Renji shoved by him. "We both thought you would since he was your friend."

"I _never_ said I wouldn't look for him. You two never gave me a reason that this wasn't Toshiro and one of his moods! Seriously, if it is just one of his moods, then leave him be until he wants to talk to someone. I've already told him that... no, if it one of his moods, I might as well be the one to find him. I'm probably the best one to push for answers."

"Then why didn't you just say you would help moron!" Renji turned to him, grabbing Ichigo's shirt and pulling on it in his anger.

"Because, I expected him to come find me. I forgot about the fact that he told me that he expects me to push for answers earlier today, which means until I was willing to do so, he couldn't trust me to come to me." Ichigo stated, hitting Renji's hand away. "If he needs someone to talk to, then I'll find him.

Renji's face still showed irritation. "Didn't we just say the situation is dire? This isn't about him simply being in one of his moods. Though how anyone ever can deal with him when he is throwing a tantrum, I don't know."

"You two aren't exactly telling me the details." The teenager glared at the man.

"You are not a shinigami anymore, so you are not to be privy to such details." Abari snapped out.

Rukia though shoved between the two. "Actually, Renji only knows some of the details. In the long run, it is a matter of Hitsugaya Taicho needing someone to talk to. He won't want to talk to any of us about what happened."

"But there is also the issue..." Renji paused. "We need to find him as soon as possible." At that, Ichigo folded his arms, raising an eyebrow. "It's complicated. He isn't in trouble, but he thinks he is. It's complicated."

"He's bring grounded but he hasn't done anything wrong, so he thinks he's being punished." The small female blurted out.

"Huh?" Abarai looked at her in confusion.

"I get it." Ichigo stated, waving his hand. "I'll take a look around for him, but I can't make a promise to find him."

As he walked away, he could here Renji say something about him being an idiot.

**M**

When Toshiro had arrived at the park, he found the breeze there to be nice and cool. His mind wandered, trying to think about what had happened, but his mind kept blocking off the memories, as if for some reason he didn't want to remember what had occurred to him. He noticed the swing on one side and went to sit on it.

He didn't move the swing. Truth was, he didn't know why he went and sat there, but it felt safe, despite feelings somewhat childish. His teal eyes stared at the ground, his whole mind numb. He heard someone walk up and then sit down next to him, but he didn't at all respond. The person simply sat there for a few minutes, then a light drizzle started up.

"Toshiro?" The voice next to him was familiar.

The small taicho's head tilted up a bit. "Ichi... nii?"

"Ichi-nii? That's what my sisters call me." The orange haired teen let out a sigh.

At that, Hitsugaya's head darted up, his eyes slightly glazed over. "I didn't say anything."

"All right. Whatever." Ichigo glanced up at the sky, a light smile spreading on his face.

"What are you doing here? Just go away if you..." Toshiro found himself biting his lip, the words that were coming out simply were too harsh and to emotional.

"I came looking for you because everyone is worried about you Toshiro." Kurosaki let out a sigh. "I am sorry that I made you feel like I didn't want to have anything to do with you guys anymore. Truth is, I was avoiding you guys because I _want_ to still be part of all of that. It hurts not being around all of you, and if I see you, I'm reminded that it's not going to likely last."

"Because you don't think you'll ever get your powers back?" Hitsugaya leaned forward, his elbows perched on his knees.

"Well, I was thinking that. Not so sure anymore." Ichigo let out a sharp laugh. However, the rain suddenly gushed down and his laughter was cut short. "Look at the two of us, out here getting soaked."

"So?" Toshiro glanced at the ground, only to find himself in a headlock by the physically older boy.

"Let's go back to my place to dry off and wait off the storm." Ichigo stated. "Yuzu's probably got some of my old pajamas stashed somewhere that you can borrow, at least until your clothes are dry."

"I can take care of myself." Toshiro blinked a couple of times.

"Sure you can. But I figure that your wanting a place to stay away from people and you want to talk about something. You also expect me to push you for answers. Plus, I've got a few questions of my own."

"Fine..." The small boy pushed the arm away, his face picking up a rather irritated look.


	24. Melting Numbness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro struggles with the emotions welling in his head from his strained relationship with Ichigo, his even worse strained relationship with Ichigo, the fact he's disappointment Karin and his recent defeat in battle.

"Fine..." Toshiro pushed the former substitute shinigami's arm away. Ichigo noted the irritation written all over the small boy's face. He found him self a bit surprised with the fact that the small taicho in fact didn't try to protest going back to his house as the rain drizzled down. In fact, as Ichigo walked along, the small taicho happened to hang his head rather low.

" _What ever happened to him really put him out of it. Normally he would be yelling at me by now, or glaring at me and refusing to listen."_ Ichigo thought to himself as he glanced back over his shoulder. Rain continued to pour down from above him and it became thicker, soaking both the young males to the bone.

Ichigo's steps fell on the ground, splashing through a few puddles as he walked. The small shinigami's feet also splashed through the puddles, a lighter sound then the teenagers. Ichigo's eyes narrowed in worry as the small child shinigami continued to stare at the ground, not responding to the world around him.

" _No... Toshiro isn't a child anymore. He's had a growth spurt since I've last saw him and he looks like a junior high student rather then an elementary school kid._ " At that, Ichigo's head darted forward, depression sitting in. " _How much though have I been ignoring around me simply because I was so absorbed in my own problems, simply because I felt like I could no longer be helping others with their own._ "

They came to the pathway to Ichigo's house and the young man found himself grabbing the sleeve of the white haired youth as he almost passed the house on by. "Come on Toshiro. Snap out of it long enough to pay attention to your surroundings. Not doing so is a bad thing."

At that, Ichigo pulled the child up the path and then reached his hand out to open up the door. He snapped it open, tugging the young teenaged shinigami in after him. As he did this, Yuzu suddenly came from around the corner. "Ichi-nii! Where have you been! You're soaking wet!"

At the sound of the small female's voice, Toshiro's teal eyes darted up in surprise, his face twisting up in confusion. Ichigo gave him a weak smile. "From what I understand you've already met Karin. This is her twin sister Yuzu."

"Hai..." Hitsugaya's tone was rather dull.

The pale brown haired Kurosaki girl blinked a couple of times. "Your both soaking wet. My name is Kurosaki Yuzu."

Two teal eyes blinked a couple of times, not used to such upfront friendliness. Ichigo began to scratch his head as he stood there. "Listen Yuzu. This is Hitsugaya Toshiro. I was out late because I was asked to go looking for him."

"He got lost?" Yuzu asked rather quickly. At that, Toshiro yanked his arm away from the male Kurosaki's arm, a rather irritated glare spreading across his face. While the orange haired teen noticed this, Yuzu seemed to pay it no mind. "You both need to get out of those wet clothes. I can dig around for some of Ichigo's old clothes. There aren't that many left, but I think I can find a few. However..."

"Something the matter Yuzu? And by the way, where is the old man?" The physically older teen noticed that no sound of a rather boisterous male came to his ears.

"I don't know." The small female let out a sigh. "Daddy's likely having to work late outside of the clinic or something. I was starting to get worried about him. As I said, I could find some of your old clothes Ichi-nii, but what is Toshiro-kun going to do about underwear?"

"Ehh?" This caused the bigger male to blink a couple of times. He watched as Toshiro's mouth opened and he paled a bit. Two teal eyes suddenly darted up to Ichigo. "Well Toshiro does need some pajamas as he's staying the night. Why not have him drop his wet clothes outside of the bathroom and you can dry them for him?"

"That might work." Yuzu stated, folding her arms across her chest. She then moved to where she was behind Hitsugaya and began to push him up the stairs. "Go and get into the shower."

"Wait a second. How long is it going to take to get my clothes dried!"

"I'm going to be running them through the wash and then drying them, so about an hour," Yuxu stated, causing the small taicho to look at Kurosaki frantically or some reason.

"I'll take care of him little sis and make sure he gets into the shower. You worry about finding him some pajamas and getting his clothes taken care of." Ichigo stated, grabbing the small taicho by the arm and dragging him up the stairs and then pushed him into the bathroom. "You're the guest so go ahead and take a shower."

Toshiro though anchored himself in the door frame. Under his breath he muttered out, "So for a full hour I'm going to be stuck in nothing but my birthday suit!"

At that, the orange haired teen stopped pushing. "I hadn't thought about that. I don't think Rukia will be back by that time."

"Toshiro..." Kurosaki spoke up, only to find himself reprimanded for using the title.

"Hitsugaya Taicho!" The small boy snapped out, spinning into the room, allowing Ichigo to also step into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"That is more like your normal self." Ichigo sighed.

"What am I to do if a girl walks into your room!" Hitsugaya's face contorted as he snapped out the words, his mind temporarily having forgotten about what had been bothering him.

At that, Kurosaki blinked a couple of times. "I guess Rukia might show up suddenly." He watched as the small taicho suddenly paled. Ichigo's arms dropped to his sides. "You know, you could stay in here while I take my shower."

"Or I could let you take your shower first, then hang out in the bathroom until my clothes are done. In other words, wait to change out of mine until you were done."

"I have the advantage of having changes of underwear. I'm not going to let you get out of taking a shower. Your skin is paling due to how much your body temperature is dropping. Even I can tell you're starting to get sick."

"I have an ice zampaktuo, so I can hold off a bit... but..."

"Can't do that. Yuzu will physically pull your clothes off... or pull on them until you take them off. She won't put up with either of us hanging out in our wet clothes." Ichigo stated. "She'll even barge into the bathroom if she has too."

At that, a small white head hung his head to the groaned. "Look... I'm not comfortable changing in front of people."

At that, Kurosaki paused for a few minutes as Toshiro sat down on the toilet, his head in his hands, water dripping all over the floor. He then spoke up, tossing a towel at Toshiro. "I'll take first shower. While I am going and getting my stuff, you change out of your wet clothes."

"There isn't another option is there?" At that, the small boy turned his head away from Ichigo. "I guess seeing you naked is better then your sisters seeing me."

" _My sisters seeing him... so he had been worried about girls seeing him. He just hadn't thought of Rukia heading back here."_ At that, he headed towards the door and glanced back at the small taicho. " _It doesn't surprise me that he is uncomfortable about his own body either, as he's at that age. Normally though he would have come back with an idea so he wouldn't have to worry_. _He might have waited out on the roof._ "

At that, the small taicho glanced up. "Kurosaki, is something wrong?"

"No. I'm just rather glad your not being your stubborn self." Ichigo gave the small taicho a weak smile and headed out of the bathroom, bumping into Karin as he did so.

"Ichigo... you going to be taking a shower?" The small girl folded her arms across her chest.

"Yes, well... I forgot to get my stuff." The teenager smiled at his younger sister. "Still, don't go in there. Toshiro's going to be taking a shower too."

"Toshiro..." At that, Karin glanced at the door. "I thought I heard him yelling. He's a baka, isn't he?"

"Karin, Toshiro isn't an idiot. He's actually very smart." Ichigo sighed, ruffing up the hair on top of her head.

"When it comes to social interaction he's horrible." She then turned and walked away from him. "He's all right though."

"What do you mean?" The young man folded his arms.

"Toshiro was attacked. I saw a little bit of it... but don't tell him that." Karin glanced at the ground.

"So, you were having one of those dreams where you see what the ghosts are feeling while you sleep?" Ichigo stated, heading to his room.

"No. I was wide awake. He got hurt pretty bad. I felt his pain, but I also another feeling I couldn't place my finger on."

**M**

When Ichigo got back to the bathroom, he found Toshiro's wet clothes piled outside the door and slipped in. The small taicho sat on the toilet, a towel wrapped around his waist, is legs pulled to his chest and his head buried. Ichigo gave the small taicho a weak smile, then set his clothes on the counter. He then got into the shower and pulled it closed.

Undressing, he dropped his clothes on the opposite side of the curtain, then began making adjustments. "Could you put those clothes outside the door with yours Toshiro?"

"Ehh..." The response leaned between startled and surprised, a feeling of being completely shocked versus one that simply caught one off guard. "Sure. Do you always change in the shower?"

"No." Ichigo commented. "I didn't think you would be comfortable with me changing in front of you either."

"Oh..."

There was a silence as Ichigo let the hot water run over his shoulders. Silence continued to came from the other side after that. Finishing, he turned off the shower. "Could you hand me the towel and my pile of clothes?"

"Sure."

Ichigo reached around the end of the curtain and grabbed the items from the young shinigami and began to dry off and dress. He then pulled the curtain back, to see Toshiro sitting on the toilet, his feet touching the floor and his head hanging down. The orange haired teen caught sight of light bruising on the small shinigami's chest area. "You should get into the shower now."

At that, Toshiro headed into the shower, while Ichigo went to brush his teeth before he headed back to his room. He heard the knobs turning and the shower coming on. He then went to leave the bathroom, clicking the door open slightly. However, he heard the shower curtain pull open. "Could you stay in here with me. I don't feel like being alone."

"Sure." Ichigo refrained from sighing out loud and went to sit on the toilet where Toshiro had been sitting. He leaned forward, his chin cusped in his hands. " _Normally he would tell me to get lost. Something must be bothering him. I'll wait to push him for details until we're back in my room._ "

After a good deal of time, a knock came at the door. "Toshiro-kun, I have dry clothes for you."

At that, Ichigo opened the door and took them from her, setting them onto the counter. "Thanks Yuzu." He stepped out of the bathroom and looked over his shoulder. "I'm stepping out so you can change Toshiro." He then thought to himself. " _Now I can start prying._ "


	25. Face to Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshiro finds himself talking to Ichigo regarding how he feels about certain things.

In the shower Hitsugaya's head hung low and he simply let the water warm up his body. Despite being a shinigami with an ice zampaktuo, that didn't mean he was immune to the cold."I'm stepping out so you can change Toshiro." At that, his head popped up and he heard the door click. He opened his eye and turned the knobs. He then stepped out of the shower, grabbing the towel that he had tossed to the side when he got in.

As he dried off his body, his eyes fell on the pajamas that Yuzu had picked out for him. The pattern seemed rather childish, which caused him to let out a deep sigh of frustration. He dried off his body and then pulled on his underwear and then the pants. As he buttoned up his shirt, he took a gander at the mirror, only to glance back down. At that, he slipped out of the bathroom and walked over to Ichigo's room, his feet hitting the floor.

He opened the door, only to find someone stepping over and grabbing the towel, beginning to rub his hair dry. He turned his head in irritation at the person. "Kurosaki!"

"Then dry your own hair Toshiro so you don't get sick." Ichigo sighed, going over to his desk and sitting down to work on his homework.

The small shinigami walked over to the teenagers bed and sat down on it, cross legged and facing the window, drying off his hair as he did so. After a few minutes, he glanced up, turning his head so that he could see over his shoulder. "I thought you were going to press me?"

At that, Kurosaki paused and turned, letting out a sigh and pulling his arms behind his head. "What happened?"

At that, Toshiro turned his head back, pausing. He then spoke up. "What do you mean what happened?"

"So, you're going to give me the same round about Renji did about the fact I'm not to be involved in shinigami business anymore?" Ichigo stated. "I wasn't given any of the details on what happened to you, but I know something did happen."

"You'll have to pry a different way to get details out of me Kurosaki." The boy's head suddenly hung low and the towel fell so it was hanging over her shoulders.

"Hitsugaya Taicho..." Two brown eyes narrowed, watching the young man carefully.

At that, the small figure spun around, a rather hurt look on his face. His teal eyes were wide, and one of his legs flopped off the bed. "I told you! Earlier I told you to keep treating me like you always have!"

"Toshiro..." Ichigo let out a sigh.

"What?" A look of confusion spread on the white haired youths face.

"Toshiro?" The other male shook his head.

"Stop it! I don't like being teased like this!" The boy grumbled, his cheeks beginning to flush with anger.

"I wasn't teasing you. The only time you've corrected me on your proper title was when I mentioned Rukia and you got all flustered, which is likely only because you forgot about what was bothering you and instead focused on the caressing though that crossed your mind." Ichigo stated, watching as Hitsugaya's jaw dropped. "Something is bothering you enough that you discarded your title. Knowing you, that means you don't feel like you deserve it. Question is... why?"

"Why? Why do I not feel as if I deserve my title? I'll tell you why. I messed up again." Toshiro's face twisted up, his face irritated with himself.

"Everyone messes up. There was the time with your old friend, and the time with Momo when you stabbed her." Ichigo sighed, leaning on his arm, flipping his pencil around.

"Did you have to bring up the situation with Momo? That... isn't resolved." The young shinigami's face paled.

"Sorry. I didn't realize that." The teenager turned back to his homework, continuing to work on it while he listened. "You've been in fights before though. Something particular about this time?"

"The captain's haori... " Toshiro closed his eyes, then opened them and looked at the ceiling. "I don't remember much about the fight, other then the fact I doubt I landed a blow on the person. But..." At that, his eyes closed again, and his head hung low. "When they found me, I was tied to my own zampaktuo, unconscious. My haori... my captain's haori. He took it with him. I was out for I don't know how long."

"At least you are alive Toshiro." Ichigo stated, suddenly turning back to the small taicho.

Hitsugaya reached up and rubbed a hand across his eyes. "That's what Unohana Taicho said, in a way. But quite a few people know that I don't have my haori. They aren't happy about the situation. And... I was told by Unohana..."

"To stay put. One thing Rukia told me was you felt like you were in trouble when you really weren't." Kurosaki gave Toshiro a smile. "I am quite sure a good deal of people are simply glad you are safe."

"Except a captain losing their haori is a big deal. It's a very big deal, yet... Unohana said that losing my haori _has a bigger meaning then just me simply having. It was meant to send a very definite message._ I don't understand any of that."

"Unohana Taicho said that it was meant to send a definite meaning?" Ichigo glanced at the ceiling.

"If you are looking at me to say what the meaning is, I haven't got a clue. I simply thought I was being humiliated, brought down to..." Toshiro paused, his cheeks puffing out a bit. "I was merely a child at that man's mercy."

"Child..." This caused the orange haired teenager to suddenly turn to stare at the small taicho. "Toshiro... I can assume that there has never been someone as young as you who has ever become a captain of the gotei thirteen?"

"The second youngest was twice my age equivalently. But that doesn't mean anything." Hitsugaya frowned, his hands clenching the bed sheet.

"Well, to you it may not, but doesn't it mean something to all the other shinigami?" The look on Ichigo's face was serious, yet showed some bit of frustration. "You being the youngest shinigami ever makes you important to them."

"Important to them. I''m not that important." At that, Toshiro's face paled and he crossed his legs again, his head hanging low.

There was a soft knock on the door and Kurosaki's head popped up. "Yes?"

At that, Yuzu opened the door and slipped in. "I fixed some hot tea and some cookies." She set it down on the desk, then slipped back out. Silence remained in the room as Ichigo stood up and poured tea from the container into one of the cups then walked over and set it down on top of the saucer next to Toshiro.

After he sat back down, Ichigo choose to speak about the subject. "So, you're saying there is no importance to you being the youngest taicho ever?"

"Well... it is a great achievement I guess. I never wanted... I never wanted to be one, but I felt like I needed to be." The small taicho glanced at the ground. "I don't care about my rank."

"Yet you were upset about your haori being taken." The other young man let out a deep sigh.

"I'm upset about it being taken because it means that I've let everyone down." Hitsugaya's face turned dramatic, frustrated at the fact that the former substitute shinigami was pushing the issue.

"And unless your someone that matters and is important to them, there should be no reason to feel that way." Ichigo suddenly scratched his head. "This math problem..."

"I..." Toshiro closed his eyes, not wanting the particular subject to continue. Something popped into his head. "Kurosaki? Why do you dislike your family so much?"

"Dislike my family?" The young man glanced up, somewhat surprised at that comment. "I don't hate them. Where did that come from?"

"You're not getting along with your father, are you?" The small shinigami picked up his cup of tea and began to sip on it.

"We've never truly got along, but then we've never truly not gotten along." Ichigo gave a weak smile. "I don't hate him, I really don't."

"Do you love your father though?" Toshiro asked, confusion written all over his face.

"I'll admit that is true, but I won't say the words out loud." Kurosaki continued with his homework, listening to the others words.

"Then why is it you want to get out of the house? Isn't it because of him?" The boy's face twisted up.

At that Ichigo glanced up, then looked at the wall. "I want away from my old man because he reminds me of you guys. It's not that I don't remember you guys, but it hurts too do so."

"I don't understand how your father could remind you of us." A sigh came out of Toshiro's mouth.

"Uhh... I'd rather not explain that one. It has to deal with protecting my family." Ichigo scratched his head.

"Speaking of family. About Karin..." The small taicho spoke up, his face perking up and a more innocent appearance appearing in his eyes.

"Yes. About Karin." Ichigo turned just in time for Toshiro surprised at the former comrades response. "What is the two of yours relationship? You act like you know her pretty well."

Hitsugaya's mouth suddenly twisted into a frown. "I _don't_ have a crush on her. I _don't_."

"Where did that come from?" Kurosaki let out a chuckle, turning back to his school work.

"Rangiku and other people." The muttering was almost inaudible.

"Well, lets say you did like her..." The former substitute shinigami let out a chuckle.

"Don't even tease me about it! I've had enough with Hinamori and everyone else!" Toshiro snapped out the words, his cheeks flushed.

"I wasn't trying to tease you. What I was saying was, if you do decided that you like her, and soul society doesn't stop you with some law preventing you, I am fine with it, you having a relationship with Karin. Of course..." Ichigo found himself interrupted.

"She might kick a soccer ball at my head again." The small boy stated, the corner of his mouth twisting up, confusion and frustration written all over his face.

"All right, I won't push what kind of relationship the two you have, whether it is just that you two know each other, or are actually friends."

"About your sister though..." At that, Toshiro got up and walked over to Ichigo's desk. He pulled out his phone, then a wallet containing id if he needed it. Both were rather damp, along with the soul candy container.

"The stuff you pulled out of your pocket when you changed out of your wet clothes." The teenager sighed. "What do any of those have to do with Karin?"

The small shinigami though opened his wallet and pulled out a piece of paper and set it on the desk. The edges were damp from water and Kurosaki picked it up and began to open the paper. "You need to really talk to her, Kurosaki."

Ichigo felt his brown eyes suddenly go wide as he read the note. "Toshiro... where did you get this."

"I followed your sister to her school this morning as there was something I needed to ask her about... relating to what I came to the living world for. Some girls stuck this into her locker. They're bullying her."

"So she didn't listen to you when you told her to go talk to and adult about it?" Ichigo set the paper down.

"Talk to an adult?" Two teal eyes blinked a couple of times. "That's what your supposed to do when that kind of thing happens?"

"Yeah..." The orange haired teen looked to watch the white haired taicho. "Toshiro... what did you do."

"I tied their shoelaces together... while I was in shinigami form." The small shinigami's cheeks flushed up slightly and he glanced at the ground.

"Uh huh." Ichigo nodded his head. He then blinked a couple of times. "Wait... you did what?"

"Matsumoto's already lectured me about it, so don't you do it too." At that, Toshiro turned around and leaned up against the desk.

"Lecture you about it?" The former substitute shinigami however suddenly started laughing aloud.

"It isn't funny Kurosaki!" The small shinigami turned around his voice rising.

"You can call me Ichigo or what my sisters sometimes call me." The orange haired teen laughed.

"Kurosaki!" Hitsugaya slammed the palms against the desk, turning back around. "It _isn't_ funny."

"Come on Toshiro. That was one of the best pranks I have ever thought of. I never expected you to do something like that." The teenager laughed.

"It really isn't funny." The small taicho's voice began to calm down. "Matsumoto also pointed out that wasn't normal behavior for me. Plus, your sister got mad."

At that, Ichigo coughed into his hand. "Uhh... sorry. I didn't realize that." As Toshiro folded his arms and glared at the wall. He then let out a sigh and picked up his soul phone, snapping it open. The small let out a groan. "What is it."

"I turned off my ringer so that they couldn't contact me and bother me, or find me easily. I've got a lot of missed calls." Hitsugaya simply stared at his phone.

Kurosaki held out his hand. "Who would it be best for me to talk too, to let them know that you are all right?"

The small taicho paused. "I think that Unohana won't be happy unless she is the one contacted."

"All right." Ichigo snatched the phone from Toshiro and began fiddling with the settings.

"Hey!" The white haired child tried grabbing the phone from the bigger male.

"Do you really want to take the brunt of Unohana's wrath?" The orange haired teen sighed. He then put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

" _Kurosaki-san?_ " Unohana's voice came from the other side, nice and sweet. " _Have you found Hitsugaya Taicho?_ "

"I found him over an hour ago. I brought him back to my place so we could talk and so that he could get a hot shower as we got soaked in the rain. He's feeling a little better and I'm going to make sure that he stays inside rather then sleeping on my roof." Ichigo stated.

"Kurosaki!" Toshiro muttered.

" _Did Hitsugaya Taicho or someone else tell you of his habit of sleeping on the rood?_ " The forth division taicho asked.

"No..." The orange haired teen blinked a couple of times.

" _Interesting. Tell Hitsugaya Taicho to get to bed._ " The female stated over the phone, then said goodbye.

"What did she have to say?" The small taicho glanced at the floor, his feet unable to stay still as he fidgeted slightly.

"Your to go to bed. I'll go get a futon later on." Ichigo stated. "You know she's not someone you're supposed to argue with."

"She wasn't mad about earlier though?" Toshiro frowned, something feeling off.

The high school student blinked again. "No. She was actually very calm. I guess you have to see her face and her look. Good night."

"Good night." The small taicho shook his head, then crawled under the sheets as Ichigo switched off the light.

"Hey... Toshiro. I know that you aren't completely back to norm, but do you feel better after having talked?"

There was a short period of silence, and then Toshiro spoke up, much to his own surprise. "A little, actually."


	26. Night Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karin speaks with the voice in her head which is in a way yet another one of the problems she needs to resolve in some manner.

Karin sat at her desk and tapped the pencil on the desk as she tried ton concentrate on her homework. Her mind kept drifting off to think about other things and she finally found herself leaning on her arm with her cheek resting on the palm of her hand. " _I still can't place that feeling I got from Toshiro. It's not a feeling I'd expect him of all people to be feelings._ "

" _Perhaps that is why you can't identify the feeling. You know what the feeling is all to well but because it is not a feeling you expect him of all people to feel you find yourself unable to place it._ " The voice in her head spoke up. " _Speaking of which, you found yourself worried about his safety and his well being._ _You like him, don't you?_ "

The small female found herself blinking a couple of times. " _You're my thoughts and my feelings so you should very well know how I feel about Toshiro. I've got other things to worry about rather then whether I should date him. Like worrying about the fact he almost got himself killed and the fact he's tried butting in on the situation with those girls._ "

" _You shouldn't let those girls bully you. You should tell an adult._ "

" _If I ignore them then they will just go away. I don't even understand why they are even targeting me. And no, don't go into the idea it is because I am finally wearing a skirt. I'm not the type of girl any of the guys would go gaga over._ " Karin paused. " _You know, it is possible not to be able to get a date and not get a lesbian._ "

" _But if you were to try and date a guy who would you try dating._ "

" _Now, that is a weird question. I used to not used to thinking of this stuff with my conscience before I became a substitute shinigami, so what is up with that?_ "

" _I may be very aware of what your thoughts are, but I am not your conscience. Answer my question though despite the fact I know the answer._ "

Karin found herself pausing and setting down the pencil. " _I don't like the idea of someone else running around in my head. It is bad enough that I am able to see ghosts._ "

" _Except I've always been there. You just haven't been able to hear me._ "

" _Ahh... so I've had a psychosis this whole time._ "

" _No... I'm not a psychosis. It is rather hard to explain._ _Since you wish for me to stop speaking I will allow you to be._ "

Karin let out a deep sigh before getting up and changing into her nightclothes and collapsing onto the bed and turning off the light next to her bed. The voice didn't speak to her anymore, but she couldn't help but think about the question the voice had asked. " _I've never put much thought into what kind of guy I would want to date, but then I've never wanted to end up like those girls gossiping and turning a guy into an object._ "

The female turned over onto her back and closed her eyes. " _None of the guys I know I would want to be in a long term relationship with because their attitudes stink and they are perverts. Well, there is Toshiro. He's the kind of guy_ _any_ _girl would want to date._ " The dark haired teen placed a hand on her forehead. " _And how's that not objectifying him, me thinking about how cute and perfect he is. Hypocrite._ "

She soon found herself drifting off to sleep. After a few hours her eyes suddenly jolted open and she felt a heavy weight on her chest and she found herself taking a deep breath. She turned to look at the clock and saw that it was almost three in the morning. Carefully she got up and noticed that Yuzu was in bed asleep. She felt around for spiritual pressure, only to find herself realizing she couldn't feel Toshiro's.

" _Yet I know he's here, staying in Ichi-nii's room._ " The small female got up and hurried to her brother's room without bothering to knock. Her opening of the door caused Ichigo to suddenly sit up from where he was sitting. She could hear a soft thrashing coming from the bed and _that_ feeling coming again.

"Karin! What are you doing!" Ichigo blinked a couple of times only to find himself rubbing his eyes when she turned on the light.

The small female felt her lips tighten as she looked at the bed and saw that Toshrio's limbs were askew as if he had been tossing and turning while his eyes were directed at the ceiling. What really caught her eyes was the blue color his lips were starting to take on. "Ichi-nii! Something's wrong with Toshiro!"

Her brother bolted up right and hurried over to the boy while the closet door suddenly slammed open and Rukia stepped out in what looked like one of Yuzu's old nightgowns. Ichigo hurried over and shook Toshiro a few times. The small shinigami however frowned. "It's happening again, isn't it? He's not breathing."

The orange haired teen quickly lifted the boy up and then set him carefully on the ground. "Great Toshiro, of all the things you could go and do to me. CPR... how do you do CPR."

Karin found herself blurting out the steps rather fast and watched as her brother nodded his head and went to work on the small taicho. After a few minutes Toshiro took a deep breath on his own and began to struggle, one hand going to push Ichigo away despite not having much strength. His body trembled and he tried opening his mouth to speak.

Finally he managed to scoot away so he was leaning against the desk. The boy glared at the orange haired teen. Ichigo moved to come closer, only to have the boy snap at him. "Don't! Don't come near me."

"Toshiro, what..."

"Pedofile!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow while Karin frowned at the two. Ichigo though felt his eye twitch. "Excuse me? The last time I checked you're _older_ then me Toshiro."

"That still doesn't excuse you... you..." The boy turned to look at Rukia. "And you _knew_ he was doing that. I mean..."

Karin flinched as Toshiro suddenly turned to look at her. The boy paused and his eyes widened in horror and a gagging sound was heard. He chocked a few times and then his face started to turn red around his ears and cheeks. At the same time his eyes began to glaze over. The female found herself placing a hand over her mouth.

"Perhaps I should explain Toshiro..." The female glanced at the ground, knowing that he was suddenly uncomfortable with the fact she was looking at him. "You stopped breathing while you were asleep. Ichi-nii was just trying to get you to breath again. I'll go fix you a tea. It will make it so you can sleep without those nightmares you're having about what happened."

"I don't..." Toshiro paused as he glanced at the ground. Rukia came over and knelt next to the young taicho.

"You don't remember what happened again?"

"No..."

"Toshiro..." Ichigo spoke up. The boy remained silent and Ichigo watched as the boy swallowed and looked away. "Hey!" He moved over and forced the boy to look at him/ "Nothing happened."

"Ichigo, can I talk to you outside. We should possibly give Hitsugaya Taicho some privacy."

"No." The substitute folded his arms.

"Excuse me?" Rukia in turn did the same thing.

"I'm not going to risk him running off simply because he's upset. Can't what you say be said in front of him?"

"No, it can't."

"Don't worry. I won't take off. I just want to go back to bed." Toshiro got up and went to lie on the bed turning his back to the two.

"Toshiro, I..." Ichigo didn't finish what he was saying as Rukia pulled him out of the room.

The small female tugged on his sleeve until he was looking at him. "There is something you need to know about your sister and Hitsugaya Taicho."

The teen frowned. "I got it. Toshiro and Karin know each other."

"It's more then that." Rukia let out a deep sigh before leaning against the wall with her arms folded. "Hitsugaya Taicho has a really bad crush on your sister."

"Oh, come on Rukia. You can't be serious."

"I am. Think of it from his point of view. He woke up to what he thought was you kissing him..."

"It was CPR for crying out loud."

"... and the girl he has a crush on saw the whole thing."

Ichigo opened his mouth and held up a finger to point, only to make attempted sounds of protest, only to fail each time. "He's not going to want to talk to me right now, is he?"

"No. And Ichigo." Rukia looked up at him. "Don't mention the fact he is crushing on your sister to him. He's still in denial about the fact and likely doesn't understand why he is upset."

"Damn."

"Watch your tongue Ichi-nii." Karin was at the end of the hall turning the corner. "I don't know what your conversation was about, but for goodness sakes you don't want to have Yuzu wake up and hear that." The female handed a trey to the other female. "Could you give this to Toshiro. I need to talk to my brother about something."

"Sure." The female slipped into the room.

"Toshiro's going to be all righ, ok."

"Is he? I've been thinking about what that feeling was that I couldn't place before. It's fear."

"Karin, Toshiro's not afraid of anything."

"Does he remember what happened to him?"

"No... he..." Ichigo paused before closing his eyes and slapping his forehead. "So he's not remembering what happened because he's afraid. Not that I can't blame him."

"Why not?"

The orange haired teen uncovered one eye to look at his sister. "Who ever attacked him earlier stole his haiori. That's pretty much a symbol of his status as a captain. You should get to bed."

"I'll work on school work for a bit and do that."

"School... there was something..." Ichigo suddenly found himself grabbing his sister's wrist. "Karin, Toshiro told me you've been bullied at school."

The girl turned to look at him, the corner of her mouth turning up. "What are you talking about?"

"Toshiro showed me the letter they left you."

Karin suddenly pulled away, anger in her eyes. "He had no right to do that! I don't need a knight in shining armor! Why do guys think that girls do."

"That's not..."

"Face it Ichi-nii. You think along those lines too. That's why Rukia-nii didn't come back."

The girl then turned and slammed the door to her room behind her despite the fact others were trying to sleep. "What was that about?"


	27. Asking for Help

“ _I died upon a plain of ice._ ”

The thought remained in the back of his mind.

“ _I died upon a plain of ice._ ”

The thought repeated himself, lingering in the back of Toshiro’s mind while he attempted taking in _what_ just occurred. In the back of his mind, he remembered feeling as if he were dying, almost as if he were suffocating right before Ichigo…

“ _I died upon a plain of ice._ ”

Toshiro’s eyes opened and closed, a small hand on his shoulder nudging him, attempting to get his attention while his mind kept focusing on that one inane thought; Toshiro couldn’t figure out why said thought felt so inane.

“Hitsugaya Taicho?”

“I died upon a plain of ice.”

“Excuse me?” the voice speaking – Toshiro recognized the person, yet he finally looked up at the Kuchiki noble. Rukia’s small frame stood next to him while he sat on Ichigo’s bed, the memory of – _that_ still lingering in the back of his mind along with the phrase which kept repeating over and over in the back of his head. A look of worry – Toshiro definitely recognized that look, yet he found himself swallowing in shame. The corners of her mouth twisted up slightly. “Oh, good. For a moment I thought you’d stop breathing again.”

“Stop breathing…” Toshiro’s head tilted down slightly, the shame flooding his synapsis while he contemplated everything. In the time he’d been in the living world with his team, he’d stopped breathing twice, yet in the back of his mind he knew he’d almost gone into a panic attack in front of a lower-ranked officer; he almost stopped breathing again. A hand reached up and clutched the front of the clothing the Kurosaki family provided for him, yet he found no comfort from the action.

“Hey…” Rukia took a deep breath. “So, what happened between you and Ichigo…”

“What?” Toshiro’s eyes blinked.

“You weren’t breathing Hitsugaya Taicho.”

Toshiro’s eyes blinked again, his mind now processing his thoughts. “Wait. He was doing some sort of medical thing?”

“You’re still rather out of it. I can’t blame you, considering how you feel about Karin.”

“Yeah, I…” Toshiro paused, then looked the small female Shinigami in the eye. “Wait? What do you mean by that?”

Rukia took a deep breath, reaching a small hand out to pat him on the shoulder. “Are you going to argue that you _didn’t_ feel embarrassed with her being there when that happened?”

“I…” He definitely felt embarrassed, yet…

“Don’t worry. This stays between…” The Kuchiki noble paused. “Well, sort of. We do need to let Unohana Taicho know, but I think we just need to send a message to her soul phone, right?”

“Right.” The door to Ichigo’s room opened and closed. “I died upon a plain of ice.”

“Toshiro…” He heard Ichigo clear his voice. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Am I…” Toshiro looked up at the substitute Shinigami, unsure of why he would say that. A thought crossed his mind, the words bumbling out of his mouth as if he were some kind of idiot. “Wait. That was as embarrassing for you as it was me.”

“Yeah. Somethings definitely wrong. You’re admitting that something embarrassed you.” Ichigo let out a sigh before coming over and sitting on the opposite side of Toshiro from Rukia.

“He keeps saying that.”

“That he died upon a plain of ice?”

“I did.” Toshiro knew this to be a fact. “I did die on a plain of ice?”

“Are you sure of that?”

The comment from Ichigo made Toshiro turn his head and look at the physically older male as if he’d said something which amounted to pure stupidity – which in Toshiro’s mind honestly did sound like pure stupidity. Ichigo’s eyes widened slightly and one hand reached up and rubbed the back of his head before he cleared his throat.

“I mean, well…”

“I’m sure Hitsugaya Taicho would know how he died.”

Except, Ichigo didn’t seem convinced. Toshiro let out a sigh, his eyes narrowing. “What is it. Something is on your mind Kurosaki?”

“I was under the impression you were born in soul society.”

Rukia let out a half-hearted chuckle. “Ichigo, where would you get that idea from.”

“Where?” Ichigo let out a sigh, before looking up at the ceiling. “From where? From my interaction with Ichimaru Gin before he went up and disappeared again.”

“You mean before he died.”

“There was no body.”

“I’d rather…” Rukia let out a deep breath, closing her eyes. “Honestly. I don’t know where that came from.”

“I do.” Toshiro definitely knew where Ichigo came from. In fact, the substitute Shinigami managed to voice something he honestly feared. His hands clenched the pant legs of the clothing he’d received for the night while his throat tightened slightly. “But it might explain why death…”

“Please tell me you aren’t going to say something morbid?” Ichigo reached out and ruffled the top of Toshiro’s head with a rough, calloused hand.

“I was just thinking. Maybe I didn’t die on a plain of ice.” The next thing he knew, Toshiro felt Rukia move from beside him so she might stand in front of him. She tugged at the front of Ichigo's clothing, getting into his face as she pulled him from the bed.

“Seriously. Hitsugaya Taicho is having a hard enough time of things as it is.”

“No. That’s not…” Toshiro lifted up a hand. “Kurosaki didn’t put this idea into my head. It was already there, given the fact…”

“Given the fact what, Toshiro?” Ichigo looked down at him, his facial features twisting in worry.

Toshiro glanced away, not feeling he could handle the situation. “The fact I’d thought I’d experienced death before, yet when I died…”

“You didn’t die,” Rukia piped up.”

“I died Kuchiki! I died when I stopped breathing and he – he…”

“Egads. No wonder you reacted the way you did.” Ichigo reached for Rukia’s hand, gently dislodging it from his clothing. “That wasn’t the first time someone resuscitated you, was it.”

“No. I definitely died then. It was awful, but if I really died…”

“Hitsugaya Taicho, you shouldn’t speak like that.”

“Why not?” He snapped again, his frustrations getting the better of him.

“Why not?” Rukia let out a sigh. “I mean, you might know how you died, but if you were rather young then doesn’t that mean you don’t quite remember what it was like to die before.” She tilted her head, obviously trying her best to handle the situation with delicacy. “How old were you?”

“How old…” Toshiro swallowed. “Could I perhaps speak to Kurosaki privately?”

She didn’t seem pleased with this, glaring at Ichigo as if she suspected the carrot top might put some kind of weird idea into Toshiro’s head. Ichigo cleared his throat. “Yeah. I kind of messed up with Karin. You might want to talk to her. Tell her that…” He stood up, leaning over to whisper into her ear.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. I messed up. But I really want her to be able to talk to someone about that.”

Toshiro’s eyes widened. “Talk about – you told her! I didn’t tell her so that you could…”

“I know. You were just being honest with me, but…”

“She’s already pissed I interfered!”

“So, yeah. I’ll go talk to Karin to find out what’s going on.” Rukia let out a deep breath. “This, you can handle on your own.”

The Kuchiki noble quickly disappeared from the room, leaving Ichigo to deal with the young Shinigami sitting on his bed, now glaring at him. Ichigo rubbed the back of his head. “Well, at least that’s normal.”

“What is?”

“You’re being a big old grumpus. Anyways, I asked Rukia if she could smooth things over between you and Karin.”

“As if she’ll be able to.”

“You don’t want her to.”

“That’s not…” Toshiro let out a sigh, flopping onto the bed, letting his back absorb the softness of the mattress. “As much as I’d like an impossibility I am not going to deny it’s an impossibility.”

“Yeah, well – our family is rather stubborn.”

“Can’t be any more stubborn than the Shiba clan.”

“The Shiba clan…” Ichigo took a deep breath. “Anyways, let’s talk about what’s bothering you, outside of the fact I admit I royally messed up and need to apologize to both you and… no scratch that.” Ichigo folded his arms across his chest. “I’m her older brother. You’re her best friend…”

“Doubt it.”

“Well, you are a friend. It’s our job to worry about her.”

“She said she doesn’t want to be rescued.”

“Well, guys need to be rescued too you know.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better.”

“Well, there’s this thing where everybody thinks it’s the girl who needs to be rescued because they don’t think girls are strong and capable of saving themselves. But Karin is, you and I know that. But, everybody needs help every once in a while.”

“Really?”

“I needed you guys.”

Toshiro felt his throat tighten. “Sorry. I’m…”

“Don’t be. You guys showing up, it did rescue me from a dark place. Still, back to what is worrying you. This whole died on a plain of ice thing and not wanting to tell Rukia how old you were.”

“I don’t know how old I was.”

“Okay. I don’t see why she had to leave the room.”

“Because you’ve already for some reason suspect what I already suspect – that I have some kind of biological connection to Ichimaru Gin which means I didn’t die and end up in soul society. I was born there.” Toshiro sat up.

“Um. Couldn’t you have, you know, both died at the same time.”

Toshiro looked at his hands. “Um – no. I mean, not unless I was an infant like Kuchiki was apparently, and even then – it’s more likely I was born there, but I would have been born… He stopped speaking. “I don’t know. It’s just a stupid theory.”

“Yeah, but one that bothers you.”

“I look like him.”

“Yeah, but you’re not him.” Ichigo sat down. “So. What do we do next, given the fact you stopped breathing while you slept.”

“Contact Unohana Taicho like Kuchiki said.”

“I don’t have a soul phone.”

“Use mine. Let her know it’s from you though, as it might really weird her out that…”

“Things are serious enough that you’re actually admitting you need help.” Ichigo proceeded in ruffling Toshiro’s white locks, much to the young Shinigami’s irritation. “That’s really okay Toshiro, but Karin’s not the only one I think whose needing to learn they need to ask for help sometimes.”

Toshiro swallowed, deep down without Hyorinmaru saying anything that Ichigo was right.


End file.
